


TROUBLE X CHANYEOL

by HeartPossession



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:53:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 40,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartPossession/pseuds/HeartPossession
Summary: Park Chanyeol x Reader[Completed]// The wound's just a trace with you// Heal me, you're my only cure// Deeper than I could be able to escape// Being on hell with you is like heaven for me// Good feels bad, bad feels good// The world is upside down, I'm in trouble.//
Relationships: Park Chanyeol/Original Female Character(s), Park Chanyeol/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

My roommate had been seeing this guy for a few weeks now. His name was Jongin. She told me that it was beginning to get serious but I had to laugh: she hadn't had a serious relationship for _years._ I had met him on a few occasions and I thought that he was a nice enough guy. In fact, I actually thought that he was a really lovely, thoughtful person. When he came over, he always took his shoes off and would leave the place clean and tidy. I liked someone who was clean and tidy. They spent most of their time in her room, apparently watching dramas and films but I was sceptical. I often heard salacious giggling creeping from under the door. Part of me felt jealous because I was sat in my room, listening to music or reading. I hadn't met anyone who had swept me off my feet like Jongin had swept her off her feet.

"Jongin wants to take us out," she said one Friday night. I looked at her and raised my eyebrow. I wasn't someone who enjoyed _going out_ in the traditional sense. I preferred listening to music or watching films. Boring, I know.

"Oh, Chae!" I whinged as I rolled my eyes at her. "I hate going out, especially when I'm going to be the third wheel." It would be awkward to sit there and watch them make out whilst I stirred my straw around in my drink.

"Honestly, it will be fine. Anyway, he wants to introduce you to his friend."

I pursed my lips. _Great, a blind date with some bozo._

"Don't give me that look!" she laughed as she chucked a pillow from the sofa at me. "Jongin assures me that this friend is very handsome and very funny."

"FINE!" I relented. I could work with handsome and funny.

"I am going to wear this red dress," she said as she took me into her room and pulled out the skimpiest red dress I had ever seen. It was very revealing. "You can wear this one." She threw a matching black one towards me.

"Erm, this is very low cut, Chae..." I replied showing my concern.

"So! We're going to a club, it's not like we're going to afternoon tea with the Queen."

I had to laugh at my roommate, she liked to state the obvious.

We got ready together and made sure we had pristine make up. I had gone for the 'smokey eye' vamp look with long, straight hair. I made sure that I had my leather jacket over my dress; even though Chae was going to force me to go out clubbing, I still wanted to be true to my rock'n'roll style. As we clambered into the taxi, I took a deep breath, hoping that I wasn't just going to sit next to Chae and Jongin making out all night because that would be boring.

As we entered the club, I could hear the bass pumping loudly in my ears. Chae held my wrist as we meandered through the people dancing and drinking. I was already wishing that I was back in my cosy bed, listening to music and reading a book. Suddenly, Chae squealed and let go of my wrist: she had spotted Jongin and was running into his arms. Not knowing whether to stand there like a lost sock or to follow her and become the third wheel, I decided to go to the bar to get some alcohol. Alcohol always worked well in this situation.

I approached the bar and rested my elbows upon the cool, metallic surface. Upon eyeing up the menu, I decided to order myself a double vodka lemonade: I needed something strong. I tried to catch the bartenders eye but he was busy serving everyone else. I began tapping my fingers on the bar impatiently as I waited to be served. Finally, after waiting an eternity, the bartender served me and I put the sweet alcoholic drink to my lips.

 _Urgh!_ The vodka lemonade had been spilled all down my front. After waiting all that time, my drink was gone because this _idiot_ had pushed into me.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" came the deep voice of the stranger who had knocked into me. I gave him an evil look. Not only had he spilled my drink that I had waited a long time for, but he had spilled it down me and now I was sticky. "Let me help you," he said as he reached for a tissue from the bar and began to dab at my chest.

"Erm, no thank you..." I replied as I pushed him away. He was stepping out of line by touching me there.

"Damn, I was only trying to be polite," he said as he pulled his hands back and scowled at me.

"Next time, don't knock into women and spill their drinks then," I spat back. _God, he was an idiot._ I didn't want to give him anymore of my time so I took what was left of my drink and headed towards Chae and Jongin.

"Ah! Baby!" Chae called to me across the dance floor. I wished she didn't call me that in public. Yes, I was younger than her by a few years but I certainly wasn't a baby. I saw Jongin smile at me and I reciprocated his expression.

"Baby, nice to see you," he said with his smooth voice. He looked very handsome tonight, I must admit. "This is my friend, Kyungsoo," he said as he introduced me to a small, dark haired man with deep, almond eyes. Kyungsoo waved to me and I waved back. _This wasn't at all awkward..._

"Baby?" Kyungsoo asked me as he smiled. He seemed like a lovely boy but I automatically knew he wasn't my type.

"It's only because I'm a few years younger than Chae. I'm not an actual baby," I said, trying not to sound like an idiot.

Kyungsoo nervously laughed. I sipped the rest of my drink and looked down into my empty glass, wishing it was full of vodka so I could get as drunk as possible in order to make this night pass quickly.

"Have you finished?" Kyungsoo asked me.

"I hadn't really started. Some idiot knocked into my and spilled my drink."

"Oh," he paused. "Would you like me to fetch you another one?" He was being charming and I felt guilty that I hadn't felt a spark with him. He was handsome with his plum, heart shaped lips and deep eyes but he didn't seem edgy enough for me.

"That would be nice. Double vodka and lemonade, please," I replied, smiling at him.

As Kyungsoo left for the bar, I noticed Chae and Jongin were dancing and grinding up against each other. I didn't know where to look until Chae saw me staring and beckoned me over. Jongin joined in and I reluctantly went and danced with them, moving awkwardly whilst waiting for Kyungsoo to bring me some more alcohol.

"What do you think of Kyungsoo?!" Jongin shouted, trying hard to be heard above the blaring music.

"Yes, he seems a friendly guy," I replied, trying to be polite in a way that showed I wasn't interested in him.

"He is lovely," Chae chimed in.

Jongin looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"If you're not interested in Kyungsoo, my friend Baekhyun is over there. He is single too." Jongin pointed to a handsome, elven looking man who was dancing with a few others not far from us. Jongin waved to Baekhyun and called him over. I was instantly bowled over by how attractive he was: he didn't even look human, he was incredibly beautiful.

"This is Baekhyun," Jongin said as he put his arms around his friend. Baekhyun looked at me with gorgeous green eyes that couldn't have been real, they must have been contact lenses.

"Pleased to meet you," he said to me, smirking cheekily. He took my hand and kissed it, causing me to blush. I could tell this one was interesting. Just then, Kyungsoo came up to me with my drink. I felt bad for gawping at Baekhyun when Kyungsoo, who was clearly not reading the signs that I wasn't into him, was standing there. Awkwardly, I started dancing along to the music whilst downing my drink. They all seemed to be such good dancers and I was not. Baekhyun began moving closer to me, his hips edging against mine. I could feel the tension building between us and he started grinding closer to me. I stared into his emerald green eyes and as began to sip my drink. I began to imagine kissing him, his soft lips on mine. I closed my eyes and began to tilt my head into his...

 _Urgh!_ The vodka lemonade had been spilled down my front _again!_ I looked up and it was the same bloody idiot who spilled it the first time. He had knocked into me whilst making a beeline for Baekhyun. The Idiot had draped himself over Baekhyun and began drunkenly laughing with his friend, clapping his hands and bending over, nearly falling on to the floor in stitches of laugher . _What an absolute fool._ I gave him the most wretched of looks.

"You've spilt my drink, again!" I shouted at him. He looked at me with his big blue eyes and stopped dancing.

"Shit!" he shouted as he grabbed the wrist of his shirt and began dabbing at my chest.

"No! Stop! I didn't like it the first time," I yelled at him and shot him an evil glare.

"Gees, a guy can't catch a break can he?" he said as he pulled back, hands in the air.

"Chaneyol!" Jongin shouted as he came over and put his arm around his tall friend. "What are you doing?"

I looked at him with disgust. This one was trouble. The annoying one of the group. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to Chae and whispered in her ear.

"Jongin's friend Baekhyun is a bit sexy, isn't he?"

"Ohhh, do you not like Kyungsoo?" she asked, almost seeming concerned.

I told her that I thought he was cute but not my type but Baekhyun was. She giggled at me and we both looked at Baekhyun, who was blowing us kisses and winking at us. In that moment, I locked eyes with the tall drink-spiller, Chanyeol. He held my gaze and I frowned at him. _How arrogant that he thinks he can stare at me after spilling my drink twice._ I tutted at him and turned my gaze back to Baekhyun. It was going to be a fun evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Most of us were very drunk as we stumbled out of the club and into the cold, fresh night air. Chae and I huddled together as the biting cold nipped at our bare legs. Baekhyun and another tall, dark-haired handsome man were clinging onto each other, merrily singing away.

"Sehun, stop!" Baekhyun squealed as the other man tickled him.

They were being very noisy and a couple of strangers gawped at them. Kyungsoo followed suit with Jongin, walking over towards us.

"Are you cold, Jagi?" Jongin said sweetly to Chae. "Here, let me warm you up," he muttered as he gently pulled her from me and held her tightly. I rolled my eyes at them and pretended to make myself gag by shoving my fingers down my throat.

"Oh stop it, you!" Chae giggled as she nestled into the crook of Jongin's arm.

"Baekhyun, Baby is cold. Warm her up?" Jongin called over to the handsome Baekhyun. He looked up with sensual, green eyes and smiled. The man he was with patted him on the cheeks and Baekhyun casually sauntered over to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. He smelt divine, like floral cologne mixed with dark woody scents.

"Hi," he said to me suavely as his elbow rested on my shoulder. He pulled me in towards him, until my face was dangerously close to his. Our cheeks were nearly touching. I was quite shocked that someone I had only just been introduced to was so bold.

"Hi," I coyly replied, blushing. This boy was so smooth, I could tell he was definitely popular with all the women. I wanted to kiss him so much.

Just then, I felt a jolt as Bakehyun was shoved forwards by someone jumping onto his back. The shockwaves almost sent me tumbling onto the floor, especially as I was already unsteady on my heels. Luckily, I was caught by Kyungsoo. He was trying very hard to be charming.

"BAEKHYUNNIE. I AM VERY DRUNK!!" came the deep shouting voice of the man who had clambered onto Baekhyun's back. _The Tall Idiot. Again._ Why was this obnoxious man doing his best to piss me off tonight? It was almost like he had an agenda to cause as much annoyance to me as possible.

"Watch what you're doing," I spat at him as I looked him up and down in disgust, Kyungsoo's arm around my waist.

The Idiot looked at me and burst out laughing, bending over and clapping his hands.

"Oh Baekhyunnie!" he said as he carried on laughing and grabbing on to Baekhyun. _Why was he being such a cock block?_ _Couldn't he leave me and Baekhyun alone?_

"Come on, let's follow Jongin," Kyungsoo said as he carried on walking with me, hand on my waist. It felt slightly uncomfortable, especially because I was taller than him in my heels. However, I was grateful that someone was being thoughtful and gentlemanly, unlike The Idiot.

As Kyungsoo and I walked off, I glanced back at Baekhyun. He was messing around with the two taller men. They were chasing each other and the dark haired one, Sehun, fell over into the street. As I glanced back, I locked eyes with The Idiot.

"Who is that tall, obnoxious one?" I asked Kyungsoo. "He is very annoying."

"Ah, that's Chanyeol," Kyungsoo replied. "He is an acquired taste. It's probably best if you stay away from him because he is very high-energy. Jongin and I joke that he is an energy vampire."

Kyungoo chuckled at his own joke. I didn't find it very funny because I was too busy looking at Chanyeol: his blue eyes staring at me. I could feel the anger rising inside of me as we locked eyes. It felt as if we were two stags, clashing horns. It was difficult to explain but he really annoyed me. I wanted to stop walking with Kyungsoo, run back to Chanyeol and push him over to get back at him for spilling my drinks and early knocking me over. It really irked me that he hadn't considered that Baekhyun had his arm around me before he jumped onto him. _What if he'd knocked me to the ground and injured me?_ He seemed selfish and childish. I was certainly not looking for that in a man.

I wasn't really looking for a man, anyway. I tagged along with Kyungsoo because I didn't want to be third wheel to Chae and Jongin. Kyungsoo seemed like a friendly, thoughtful man but the conversation we had on the way back to their apartments was forced at best. I found myself trying to talk about the weather and other boring topics just to keep the discussion going. Kyungsoo was telling me about his interests, especially his acting. I kept dipping in and out of what he was telling me because I could hear Sehun and Baekhyun squealing behind me and the deep, mahogany voice of Chanyeol as he chased them up the street. _Great. They're coming back with us too._

Jongin opened the door to their apartment. It was in a huge building and their living room was the size of an aeroplane hangar. There were three couches for us all to sit on and a gigantic zebra-print rug on the floor. Everyone clambered though the front door, taking their shoes off and relaxing on the couches. Kyungsoo and another man, who had the most beautiful bone structure, went into the kitchen and brought everyone beers.

"Here," said the beautiful man. "I'm Yixing, by the way. It is nice to meet you." He shook my hand formally.

"Don't drink the beer all at once!" joked another one of the men. "I am Jongdae," he said. He had dark, curly hair and was sat, cradling his beer as he crossed his legs on the couch.

I smiled at Jondgae and I was about to introduce myself but I was rudely interrupted.

"JONGDAE!" Chanyeol shouted, "let's do karaoke! YOU can do the singing because you have the voice of an angel." _Chanyeol aka The Idiot._ He was really starting to grate on my nerves. He seemed to pop up at every conceivable moment. I was starting to get worried that he would pop up and start annoying me as I went to the bathroom. I scowled at Chanyeol, who scrunched his face up at me. He was very rude.

Deciding to ignore The Idiot, I looked over at Baekhyun, who was sat on the couch opposite me staring at his phone. He caught me looking at him and beckoned me over with a skinny finger. At this point, I wasn't really sure what I was doing in this strange apartment with 8 strange men (I knew Jongin, so I didn't consider him to be strange). I figured that I wouldn't see any of these boys again so I didn't care what happened as the night drew on. I was going to take my chances with the handsome Baekhyun.

I inched my way over to Baekhyun and sat next to him, hitching my legs up underneath me. I was probably showing a lot more leg than was acceptable in polite society but I didn't really care. Knocking back the rest of my beer, I decided to take things further with this handsome creature.

"So," he said as he put his arm around my shoulder, "how do you know Jongin?"

"Chae is my roommate."

"Oh, so you've heard what they get up to then?" he said salaciously, winking at me. I shuddered, thinking of all the times that I had heard them in Chae's room.

"Unfortunately, yes," I replied, shuddering.

He laughed at me and edged closer. I could smell his cologne as he began to invade my personal space.

"Maybe we should go some where quiet?" he said, with deep longing in his voice, lust dancing in his eyes.

"Ok," I replied, batting my eyelids at him. By this point, I had quite a lot to drink and I was losing all of my inhibitions.

Baekhyun took me by the hand and began to lead me to another room. Just as he was about to, Chanyeol grabbed him by the waist.

"Baekhyunnie! Where are you going? Let's do Karaoke!" The Idiot said with his deep tones. I stared at him and rolled my eyes, vexed that he was ruining my chances with Baekhyun.

"Really?" I said, sarcastically.

Baekhyun laughed at his friend and put his arms around him.

"Of course, Loey, but can you give me ten minutes?" he replied, ruffling Chanyeol's hair. I scowled at Chanyeol. Why was he always trying to stop me from interacting with Baekhyun? He was so weird.

"Stop pulling that face at me," Chanyeol said as he pointed at me. I looked up at him. His bright blue eyes stood out against his dark, black hair. He was standing with his arms crossed and I could see the bulge of his biceps against his tight, black t-shirt.

"It's hard not to when you're so annoying," I flatly said, raising my eyebrow to him. He wasn't going to stop me from having fun with Baekhyun. 

He let out a deep laugh and held his hands up to me.

"Annoying? You're the one who can't seem to leave me alone. What are you doing back here anyway? Who have you come to sleep with?"

I couldn't believe the gall of this idiot. _Who have I come to sleep with?_ He was so rude.

"Excuse me?" I said as I put my hands on my hips. "I haven't come to sleep with anyone. I've come here with my friend, who just so happens to be your friend's girlfriend. Why are you so rude?"

He looked at me, shook his head and walked off.

"So, do you wanna....?" Baekhyun said as he tried to put his arm around me again.

I didn't want to engage with any of them now. Chanyeol had made me feel like I was some sort of groupie, coming back to their apartment to get my kicks and then leaving once I had my fill. That definitely was not the case at all. He made me feel disgusting, actually. _How dare a man think that about me._ I had only come back because my friend had invited me. I wasn't looking to score anything or anyone. The chemistry with Baekhyun wasn't planned.

"No, thank you," I politely said to Baekhyun as I declined. With my heart full of angst, I bombarded my way over to Chanyeol, who was now stood next to Jongdae on the couch. Something inside of me wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine and make him feel awful.

"You're such an idiot. You've spilt my drink, you've knocked into me and now you're accusing me of being _easy?_ " He looked at me with big eyes, trying to play the innocent card.

I slapped him around the face, which was no mean feat considering he was so tall. The whole room went quiet and I could hear a few shocked reactions.

"Baby!" Chae uttered as she flew forwards to grab me. "What did you do that for?"

"He deserves it," I said as looked at Chanyeol. He was holding his cheek with his hands.

"You're crazy," he shouted at me. Jongin came over and stood in-between us. If it wasn't for Jongin, I could probably have gone for a few more slaps with this over-sized baby.

"You're a boisterous, clumsy oaf," I shouted back at Chanyeol.

"Baby, I think it's best if we leave," Chae insisted. I could tell she wasn't happy with the scene that I had caused with Chanyeol. We continued to scowl at each other.

"Fine," I said with annoyance, holding his gaze for a few seconds than necessary. I stomped across the floor and put my heels back on. The room was still silent apart from Chae's footsteps as she followed me to the door. After I had put my shoes on, I thrust the door handle open and stood in the cold night air waiting for my friend to join me.

"I'm sorry," I heard her say to Jongin. "I'm so embarrassed. I promise this won't happen again."

"It's fine," he said with a hint of dispair in his voice. I felt sorry for them both. I didn't mean to cause such a drama in someone else's house but Chanyeol was so rude; he needed to be taught a lesson. Jongin kissed Chae goodbye and we walked, arm in arm back to our apartment.

"I can't believe you slapped him, what did he do wrong?"

I almost snorted at Chae.

"What did he do right?"

"Oh come on, he can't have been that bad."

"That boy is trouble," I replied as I rolled my eyes at her.


	3. Chapter 3

Approximately three weeks had passed since that disastrous night out with my roommate Chae, her boyfriend Jongin and his friends. Jongin had come over to our apartment a few times and I made sure I apologised to him. I hadn't heard anything about Baekhyun so I presumed he was probably coming onto me only because he had been drinking and not because he was interested. I told myself that I didn't care and got on with my life. It wasn't like I was looking for a boyfriend. I was quite happy on my own.

My routine actually made me relatively happy. I had recently got a promotion in my job and was currently trying to work my ass off to prove that the promotion was deserved. I worked at a music publishing company and my new promotion was in the recording department: a coveted position. As I was new to the department, I was the general dogsbody who did everything and anything. Someone wanted a coffee from Starbucks? _My job._ The amplifier cables had frayed and needed to be replaced? _My job_. Corporate wanted studio time figures and expenses in a 20,000 word presentation? _My job._ I worked hard and wanted to impress my boss.

Well, I say boss like there was one but I actually had 2 bosses: QM and Wae. QM looked after the technical side of the recordings and Wae looked after the production. They were salt and pepper: couldn't have been more different if they tried. QM was young, sarcastic and obsessive whilst Wae was older, softer and more understanding. They were both good mentors and helped me when they could, even if it mean giving me tonnes of work and pressure. I knew they were doing it because they wanted me to excel in this industry.

I remember very clearly it was a Monday morning. There was a chill in the autumn air and it was about to rain. The sky was grey, cloudy and melancholy. Driving in to the city was a nightmare because traffic was heavy. As I pulled up to the parking lot, I noticed there were no parking spaces as a gigantic black car was parked stupidly blocking three spaces. I rolled my eyes. Whoever had parked there was clearly a brainless fool. After driving around the block for ten minutes, I found a space outside the Starbucks. Typically, it had started to rain and I hadn't brought an umbrella with me. Running like mad, I managed to make it into work looking like I had just taken a shower: not a good look.

"What on earth have you been doing?" Luci the receptionist asked me as I pushed through the double doors.

"It's pouring with rain and there were no parking spaces," I said breathlessly trying to reach for my ID pass from my bag.

"QM is with this morning's clients in the meeting room. They're relatively well known so don't be starstruck when you see them. Wae is setting up in the studio. He asked if you could go into him this morning."

I looked at her puzzled. _A well known band? How exciting._

"He?"

"Oh yes, sorry, Wae."

"Right, yes, sure," I replied as I nodded and took my things up the stairs into our recording department. As I opened the door, I peered through the blinds into the meeting room where QM was although I couldn't see anything. I could hear the deep voices of men and presumed they were in the middle of something important. QM would probably fill me in later.

"Good morning!" came the happy voice of Wae as I saw him sat at his producer table/desk sipping a coffee. "Why are you so, erm, wet?"

"I've had to park two blocks away by Starbucks and got caught in the rain. I'm sorry, some black car had stupidly blocked the car parking spaces. It actually shocked me that people who park like that are allowed to drive. Idiots."

"Ahh!" bellowed Wae as he leaned back in his chair. "That will be the new clients. I'm sorry about that. I will speak to them about the parking. They're just next door with QM discussing the schedule."

"Oh, are they recording with us for a while then?" I asked as I plonked my bag down on my desk and hung my coat up on the rack.

"Yes, their managers have booked us for a month so it's a big project. They're very well known."

"Wow, a month?!"

Wae smiled at me as he sorted through some papers on his desk.

"Yes, so we had all better be on our best behaviour. This contract could make us a lot of money."

I grinned at him, liking the sound of this challenge. It would give me the opportunity to shine.

"So is are they all there then, in the meeting room?" I asked Wae as I touched up my makeup.

"Not all of them but a few. I will be honest, I don't remember all of their names but the Manager is Tan and the leader is Jun-Myeon. Remember those two. The band is EXO, have you heard of them?"

"Hmm, EXO?" I tried to recall. "I've heard of them, yes but I have no idea what they look like? Aren't they super preppy poppy little boys?" I laughed at Wae who shook his head playfully at me.

"Why don't you pop your head round and introduce yourself? I'm sure QM would appreciate your input in the meeting. Then you can decide if you think they're 'preppy poppy boys."

Nodding, I agreed to do what Wae had asked me. It wasn't unusual for me to introduce myself to the artists who were recording with us in our studio. After all, I was normally the go-to person to do all of the odd jobs for them. Making sure that I looked presentable, I smoothed down my long hair and adjusted my skinny jeans. I had a Misfits band t-shirt on and a leopard print cardigan with my black vans. It probably wasn't the most formal of outfits for a meeting but that is how we dressed in the recording department.

I walked up to the meeting room door, knocked twice and waited for QM to call me in. I heard him invite me in and I walked in. In front of me there were 7 men, all seated around the meeting room table. I didn't look at them as I was a bit nervous so I focused on QM.

"This is our assistant, Baby," QM said as he held out his hand to introduce me. I wished they wouldn't call me that, it didn't sound very professional but somehow the nickname had transgressed from my personal life into my professional life.

"Baby does basically everything. She will be helping us out on this project and she would love to help out with anything that you need." As I stared at QM, I heard the clients whispering between themselves.

QM continued.

"Baby, this is Tan, the manager and this part of EXO. Jun-Myeon aka Suho, the leader, Sehun, Xuimin, Chen, Lay and Chanyeol."

_Chanyeol_ _???_ _Oh for fuck sake._

I was honestly so shocked I didn't know what to say. I didn't focus on one person in particular, in fact my eyes darted between them all. There was silence and QM looked at me, squinting as if he was trying to figure out what I was looking at.

"I'm sorry," he apologised to them. "Baby, are you ok?"

I shook my head, hoping to snap out of this dream.

"YES! Yes!" I began. It was obvious I was flustered. I tried desparately to sound professional but the pure shock of seeing Jongin's friends in front of me really threw me off track. Especially seeing that big, fumbling pain in the ass, _Chanyeol._

"EXO are recording their album with us. It is a huge project and we will be doing our best to make sure the experience is a fantastic one, right?"

"Erm... ye..yes," I muttered. I couldn't believe I was so dumbfounded by seeing them here.

None of them said anything to me. I wondered if they recognised me? I was sure some of them did. I kept replaying the moment that I slapped Chanyeol across the face in my head. _Slap. Slap. Slap._ I felt so embarrassed. I didn't dare look at him but I could feel his stare burning into the side of my head. _Oh god. I had slapped an idol. A famous man. Oh crikey._

"Great. Well, if you need Baby, she will be at her desk. She will take care of everything."

"Thank you," Tan, the manager said as he bowed his head to me. I reciprocated, smiled and left the room. My face was burning red and Wae noticed this as I approached my desk.

"Is everything ok?" Wae asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes, all fine," I lied. I didn't want him to know that I had previous history with the new clients. _Especially_ if the clients' contract was bringing us a ridiculous amount of exposure and money.

Wae knew it wasn't fine but he didn't pry. I sat down at my desk and opened up my MacBook, pretending to do some work. I wasn't actually working. In fact, I was searching for "EXO" on the internet. I had heard of them, they were one of the biggest boy bands in South Korea, even the World. They weren't my type of music so I didn't know what they looked like or what their names were. My mouth dropped as I realised all of the men back at Jongin's place were in the band. Why didn't Chae tell me? Surely she knew they were in some sort of boy group? She had a famous boyfriend _and. she. didn't. think. to. mention. it?!?!_

This was ridiculous. I text Chae and demanded an explanation.

Just as I was researching them, the door opened and QM, along with Tae and half of EXO appeared.

"Let me show you the studio," came the voice of QM as he led them across the room to the studio. They all followed him, not saying anything. I noticed that _The Tall Idiot, Chanyeol,_ was last as he trailed behind them, eyes wandering across the studio. His baggy jeans kept falling down, making him look clumsy. I tutted at him, quietly so he didn't hear.

"It might be a good idea to go with them, help QM show them the workings of the studio," Wae said as he gestured me towards the group.

I really didn't want to. This was turning into a nightmare day. Why did Chanyeol have to be at the back? I was going to have to stand next to him now because Wae had asked me to accompany them. Why couldn't Chen have been at the back? At least he was cordial to me when we met.

Without showing my annoyance, I smiled and went over to the door to the studio. Chanyeol was leaning up against it, his arm on the door frame. I looked up at him. He was so tall and nearly touched the top of the door frame. I kept a safe distance between us, as I really didn't want to be standing next to him. I hadn't forgotten how he rudely split my drink _twice_ and kept interrupting me at every bloody opportunity the last time I had met him. Standing near him made me instantly annoyed. It was as if he radiated annoyance. I tried to tune in to what QM was saying. I managed to hear that he was talking about the sound bar and systems but my mind wandered elsewhere.

"You know, I've not forgotten that slap," Chanyeol whispered as he leant over to me.

I gave him the side-eye. I couldn't believe he was talking to me whilst QM was saying things. He should really be listening. _Was he that cocky that he couldn't at least take in what was being said?_ I didn't dare look at him and give him the satisfaction.

"Mmhmm," I said. I didn't want to ignore him because, unfortunately, he was the client, but I couldn't justify a response. This whole album recording was going to be difficult in more ways than one. How was I going to remain calm whilst interacting with him? I didn't want QM or Wae to know about this history between me and EXO. I had to keep it a secret. I had to be cordial and professional. Part of me thought maybe Chanyeol would also be professional to work with. _How wrong was I?_

"Are there any questions?" QM asked as he had finished directing them around the studio. I heard Chanyeol draw in breath as he began to speak.

"Anyone else want a Starbucks?" he asked as he sneakily smiled at me.

"Oh yeah! I really fancy a Frappucino!" Xiumin chimed in, smiling.

"Can I have a Bubble Tea?" Sehun said as he winked at Chanyeol.

I took in a deep breath as I knew what was coming.

"Baby, go to Starbucks and get some drinks," QM said as he folded his arms.

I couldn't say no to my boss. I couldn't protest and Chanyeol knew that. _Why else would he have asked?_

"Yes, of course," I said between gritted teeth. I stared at Chanyeol and forced a smile in his direction. He knew he was rubbing me up the wrong way, I could tell from the evil glint in his eyes. _Idiot._

"Get something for yourself as well," QM directed me. They all filed their orders off at me and I scrambled to remember them, typing them quickly into my phone. I went over to my desk and grabbed my coat.

"Take my umbrella," Wae said as he pointed to the window, "it's raining hard."

"Don't get wet!" Chanyeol called with a grin as I opened the door, throwing him daggers as I left.

_Piss off, Idiot._

I came back from Starbucks laden with coffees, struggling to open the door. I didn't know why Wae even bothered to offer me his umbrella. As I was carrying coffee for Xuimin, Lay, Chanyeol, Chan, Suho, Tan, QM, Wae, Me and Bubble Tea for Sehun it was impossible to carry an umbrella. I was soaked through and looked like a drowned rat, the hair sticking to my face. The anger inside me was bubbling and I had to bite my tongue in case I said something disrespectful. If this were a different situation, I would have thrown the boiling hot coffee over Chanyeol and/or slapped him. Again. At this point, I didn't care that he was _Chanyeol from Exo._ Big fucking deal. He was _Idiot from Exo._

"Here, your coffees," I said politely as I put everything down on the table in our office. Everyone was sat back and enjoying the warm of the studio, listening to Wae's latest recording mix.

"Ah, thank you, Baby-ssi," said Suho politely. I liked him, he seemed nice and friendly. I noticed that Chanyeol dived towards his coffee and immediately put it to his lips.

"Eugh!" Chanyeol spat as he sipped his coffee. "This has got vanilla in it. I don't like vanilla!"

_Seriously? You asked for a bloody vanilla latte._

"Oh," I replied trying to sound like I gave shit. "But you asked for a vani.."

"I can't drink this," he spluttered as he pulled a sour face, interrupting me.

I saw Wae and QM's faces both drop as they glared at me.

"We are so sorry, Chanyeol. Would you like something else? Baby, please fetch..."

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to cause any trouble," he replied trying to sound as sweet as sugar, when in fact he was as sour as a lemon.

"Please, you are our client, we insist," QM reassured him as he put his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder, looking at me. "Baby, please can you fetch Chanyeol another coffee."

_URGH. He was doing this on purpose._

"Why, I would _love_ to," I said, almost sarcastic in my delivery. "What would you like, Chanyal?" I deliberately pronounced his name wrong to annoy him.

"Are you sure?" Chanyeol asked. He knew what he was doing. I could see him taking great pleasuring in annoying me.

"Anything for our clients," I replied. He knew I was being sarcastic.

"That's so kind. I don't want to cause any trouble."

_Yeah right. All this man did was trouble._

"Perfect. I'll have a Venti Green Tea Frappuccino, no base. Ummm, soy to the second line, one scoop bean, one pump skinny mocha, 4 _heaped_ scoops of matcha, heaping grande scoop of ice, blended on level 3."

My eyes grew wide. _What the fuck._

The room was silent and even QM scratched his head at the obscured, detailed order.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Yes. A plain chocolate muffin." Chanyeol grinned.

_Oh wow, a PLAIN muffin? Who'd have thought it._

Whispering the order over and over in my head, I scurried out of the office, down the stairs and out into the pouring rain again. Luckily I had Wae's umbrella to shield me but I was so angry, I didn't care if I got rained on or struck by lightning. 

_Why was Chanyeol so difficult and annoying?_


	4. Chapter 4

"What the hell is going on?" I shouted through the hallway as I slammed my keys down on the wooden table in my apartment. I flicked through my mail: there was nothing important so I chucked it on floor in a rage. I stomped down into the living room and kitchen where I was greeted by Chae lazing on the sofa with Jongin's head in her lap. I stood there, with my hands on my hips demanding an explanation for this madness.

"What's wrong?" Chae asked me as she pulled her attention away from the movie they were watching.

I pointed at Jongin with my mouth wide open to indicate that I was talking about him.

"Him! He isn't normal, is he?"

They both looked at each other and laughed.

"What do you mean, B?" he asked me lifted himself from her lap and stood up, positioning himself behind her on the sofa.

"You're in bloody EXO."

There was a silence. Jongin nodded. _Why isn't he elaborating on this?!_

"Sshhh! We don't want everyone to hear you!" Chae said softly.

" _WE?!"_ I spat back. I wasn't angry but I was shocked that my friend would keep something so big from me.

"We being me, the boys, our girlfriends..."

"Why? Why do you have to be so secretive? What's the problem with the world knowing if you have a girlfriend?"

Jongin took a deep breath and ran his hands through his dark hair as Chae looked at him with longing in her eyes.

"Sit down," he said as he held out his hand to the couch. I did as I was told.

"We have an image to protect, so we can't be seen to be having girlfriends. If we are seen as being single, the fans will like us more."

I pursed my lips. _What a weird concept._ In my few years in the music industry, I had worked with rock bands who certainly hadn't hidden their dalliances and relationships. _Maybe these boybands were different?_

"So... do all fifteen of you have secret mystery girlfriends that you keep locked in the cupboard then?" I knew I was being sassy but I was also feeling slightly put out. Chae and I were close but she has kept this from me. I didn't like it. I know that was selfish of me.

"There is nine of us, not fifteen. And no, not all of us have girlfriends."

I had hoped that Jongin was going to tell me that Baekhyun was single but he wouldn't answer me when I asked if he had a girlfriend.

"I can imagine Chanyeol is single though. He is far too annoying to have a girlfriend."

"Actually, Chanyeol is dating some one at the moment. But you don't know that."

I burst out laughing and slapped my thigh.

"No way! That annoying idiot has a girlfriend? Poor woman. Send her my condolences."

Chae looked at me and frowned.

"I don't know why you're so mean about Chanyeol. He is a puppy dog, he wouldn't harm a fly."

_No but he would spill drinks and dive into random women who he hadn't met before..._

"Why didn't you tell me, Chae? This is such a big thing!"

"We've only been dating a few weeks, I wasn't sure when the right time to tell you was. Plus, with Jongin's confidentially agreement, it's not something I can just share with everyone."

"Erm... you took me to a club with half of EXO and then we went back to their apartment? Surely that was sharing enough information?"

"Baby, you didn't have a clue who EXO were at the club. Why would I tell you? So you could be like every other citizen when they meet someone famous? You're more into KISS than K-Pop, so it didn't seem like a big deal to me that you didn't know. Why would you care? Sometimes they want to be known as themselves and not EXO. They're just normal humans."

I rolled my eyes at her. _Baekhyun's not a normal human, he's too gorgeous._

"Look, you can't tell anyone about this Baby. You have to be secretive."

I scoffed at Chae.

"Well you weren't being very secretive when you were making out with Jongin on the dance floor a few weeks back, were you?"

"That's different, we weren't around the public, it was a private members club."

"What? Since when were we allowed in there?"

"You were too drunk to notice. Anyway," she paused and then stood up, walking over to me and hugging me. "Please don't tell anyone." I pulled back and sucked in the air through my teeth.

"Slight problem though," I began. "Half of the boys already know that I _know..._ "

"What?!" Jongin and Chae both said at the same time, looking confused. Walking over to the refrigerator, I pulled a beer out and twisted the cap causing it to make a hissing sound.

"We're recording and producing their... your... new record..."

"Hold on, I'm confused. _You're_ recording it?" asked Jongin as he raised his eyebrow.

"She works for a record company in the city," Chae added. "Pass Jongin and me some beers please..." I walked over to them clutching the beers and sat down.

"Wow. What a small world this is," Jongin said as he half laughed and half sighed. "I take it that you'll be there tomorrow then?"

"And the day after that, and the day after that," I joked trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll let Baekhyun know then. He might be shocked to see you tomorrow."

 _Oooh, why would he be shocked? Was he interested in me?_ I let out a cheeky grin and Chae pushed me nearly knocking my beer over.

We carried on talking as we finished our beers. Jongin was telling us about his upcoming schedule for the recording of the album. Chae was pleased because it meant he was at home for a while so she could see more of him. After I had sipped the last dregs of my beer, I said goodnight to them and went to have a shower: I didn't want to intrude on the happy couple. Plus, I felt grimy after being drenched in the rain whilst running errands for _The Idiot_ Chanyeol. Just the thought of him made my blood boil. _That Starbucks order! Urgh!_ I promised myself that he wasn't going to annoy me tomorrow. I was going to take lots of deep breaths and be as calm as possible, especially if Baekhyun was going to be there. I thought about his dreamy green eyes, his soft, pale skin and his rosy, plump lips. Maybe Jongin could set us up?

* * *

"WAE? Have you got the files for EXO?" QM shouted as he buried his head in the filing cabinet.

"They're here!"I answered with a chirpy tone, standing up and passing my boss the red folder that contained the preliminary notes for the session today.

"Ah, thank you Baby. Now, let's see, we're doing the initial vocal test this morning so there's going to be lots of people here. It will get busy. Wae, is the production set up? Good. Baby, can you sit in the office and monitor the selections? I will need you to keep an eye on the members and keep them comfortable during their down time. Tan will be joining me, as we need his professional opinions but we've got 5 members to test. It will be a long day."

I wondered if _keep them comfortable_ meant run around all day getting coffees and other strange requests. I crossed my fingers that it meant I could spend some time getting to know Baekhyun.

I gave my boss a thumbs up as I followed him into the studio to get things ready. I was calm and excited. I'll be honest, I put a little more makeup on that usual and took care to wear something that would catch Baekhyun's eye: my skinniest blue jeans and low-cut white t-shirt. It was bound to cause a reaction in him.

As QM and I were setting up in the studio, the door opened and in walked Tan with half of EXO. I took a deep breath and smiled at them sweetly, desperately seeking out Baekhyun so I could lock eyes with him. Instead, the first person I clapped eyes on was _The Idiot,_ Chanyeol. I clenched my jaw as soon as I saw him waltz in, bounding with energy. All he did was come in and sit on one of the couches, hardly a crime, but he was so annoying. I snatched my gaze away from him and found Baekhyun. He was looking delicious with his dark hair swept over his face and rounded glasses on. I smiled sweetly and he winked at me back. Ridiculously, I had to turn away and pretend I was fiddling with some of the equipment because he was making me blush.

Wae and QM conducted the initial greeting and set out the plan for the day. They introduced me and explained what my job role was. Luckily, no one said anything although Sehun and Chanyeol pretended to slap each other numerous times whilst making sure I was watching them. _The cheek of it._

Once everything had been set out, I went and sat at my desk to open my laptop to start on the selection monitoring. QM called Chen to start the vocal selections, leaving the others to sit on the sofas whilst they played on their phones.

"Hi, Baby, how are you today?" Jongin asked as he called over to me, resting his elbow on the arm of the couch. Talking to him yesterday felt natural and comfortable but today it felt pressured because Sehun, Baekhyun and tall fool Chanyeol were listening in on our conversation.

"I am good thank you, how are you? It was nice to see you yesterday?

Sehun and Chanyeol cooed at Jongin.

"Ahh, were you over at your girlfriend's house?" Sehun giggled as he played with Baekhyun's hair.

"Shush," Jongin uttered as he shot them both a look. "Yes, I was."

"Don't worry," I said to them, "I'm not going to be selling my stories to the press. I would lose my job," I reassured them as I squinted at the screen, trying to trace Chen's vocal tracking on my MacBook.

"Why are you squinting? Do you need glasses?" Chanyeol said playfully. "Baekhyun's got his glasses on today, maybe you could share his?" _Here we go..._ I could tell Chanyeol was starting his wind-up routine. Why did he have to be so petulant and annoying?

"No. I don't need glasses, thank you. I'm trying to track Chen's vocals."

"Calm down, no need to snap back," Chanyeol said as he leant back on the sofa and stretched his arms. MQ came in and called for Baekhyun and Jongin, and as they left I held Baekhyun's gaze for a second longer than was probably appropriate. This left me with Sehun and Chanyeol in the room.

"Where is the bathroom?" Sehun asked. I could tell he thought it was funny to leave me alone with Idiot Central.

"Down the hall to the left. Do you want me to show you?"

"NO! No...it's fine. You stay here... with Chanyeol..." he muttered, raising his eyebrows up and down. Sehun was certainly an interesting character. I watched him leave and carried on focusing on the vocal tracking. It was really awkward being left alone in the room with Chanyeol. I could feel him looking at me so I looked up at him.

"Can I help you?" I said with a blank stare.

"No. Can I help you?" he said back with his idiot attitude. I didn't even glorify his sarcasm with a response and I carried on with what I was doing. It took me a good five minutes to sync Chen's vocals to the tracking system we used but by the time he was finished I could feel a presence next to me, hovering over me like some sort of creepy ghost. I looked up to find Chanyeol lurking over my shoulder, watching me.

"Errrm... what are you doing?" I asked him, giving him a look of displeasure.

"I'm watching," he replied tartly in his deep voice.

"I can see that but it's off putting. Go and sit back down," I said as I pointed over to the couch.

"I'm interested in music production so it's interesting to see."

_Yes but you're standing far too close to me. And it's creepy._

"I'm sure Wae can give you some suggestions and advice," I said, hoping that he would go away and leave me to do my work in peace. He didn't get the hint and he bent down, looking directly over my shoulder. I could smell his cologne: Acqua di Parma. It was obnoxiously heavy. His face was dangerously close to mine as he peered into my MacBook screen.

"You're very close," I said as I leant away from him.

"I'm only looking," he replied as he peered closer into the screen.

"I don't think your girlfriend would be happy to see you 'only looking' so close to me."

"How do you know about her?" he asked me as he pulled back and folded his arms.

_Ooops. I shouldn't have said anything as Jongin had promised me not to mention it._

"I was just guessing?"I tried to lie my way out of it.

"Ah. You think because I'm so tall and so handsome that I must be seeing someone."

I rolled my eyes at him. Why did he think so highly of himself? _He wasn't exactly Baekhyun, was he?_

"Erm.. it must be?" I sarcastically said as I clicked around on the mouse screen tracking vocals.

"You shouldn't click that, you'll make it out of sync." He put his hand on top of mine and dragged the cursor trackpad off the screen, causing Chen's vocal selections to be deleted.

"CHANYEOL!" I shouted, losing my patience with him. "You've deleted it now! You absolute idiot. Just go away, you're being really distracting."

He held his hands up to me, clearly seeing that he had done something wrong.

"Aiiish, I'm sorry I didn't mean to break it. Calm down, it's not the end of the world."

Just then, MQ appeared in the doorway and I had to act as if nothing had happened.

"Why is there shouting? Chanyeol, are you ok?"

Chanyeol nodded at him. I was lucky he didn't say anything. If MQ had found out that Chen's track had been deleted he would go ballistic. MQ went back into the studio and Chanyeol slumped onto the couch. I could tell he was feeling slightly embarrassed that he had caused an issue but I didn't feel sorry for him: he shouldn't have touched and interfered with my work. Luckily, I managed to recover the lost file just as Sehun walked in.

"Oh dear, you don't look happy, hyung," Sehun said to Chanyeol as he came and sat next to him. "What have you said to him?" Sehun aimed his words at me. I looked at Sehun and shrugged. I wasn't going to be telling him anything. "Did she slap you again?"

"Seriously?" I said through gritted teeth. They were both so annoying like little children who couldn't be left alone to play sensibly.

The rest of the day carried on in a similar fashion. Things were awkward now between Chanyeol and I. Part of me began to feel guilty that I had shouted at him. Maybe I was too harsh on him? After all, he was only interested in learning. Wae and MQ never shouted at me when I was learning from them. _Maybe I needed to say sorry? It would be the right thing to do in this professional situation._

It was very late when the session had ended, everyone was saying their goodbyes. Tomorrow was individual recordings so I wouldn't be seeing Chanyeol until later on in the week. If I was going to apologise, now would be the time, even if it was awkward. We all grabbed our coats and left the building into the car park. I caught up to Chanyeol and put my hand on his muscley arm.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier," I timidly said.

"It's fine," he replied. It was awkward and forced. He walked away to catch up with Sehun. I noticed that Baekhyun was trailing behind so I thought I would speak to him, hoping he would ask me out for a drink or at least to swap numbers.

"It was nice seeing you again," Baekhyun said as he smiled sweetly at me. "Maybe we should go for a coffee at some point?" I could feel the butterflies in my stomach.

"Yes, I'd like...." I was about to say how much I'd like it but I was stopped in my tracks. I noticed that a big, black car the size of a rhino had reverse into my car. "FOR FUCK SAKE!" I screamed as ran over to my damaged car.

"Oh no," came the deep voice of the driver. It was _The Idiot, Chanyeol._ He had actually reversed his giant Mercedes G-Wagon into my car, smashing the bumper so that it was hanging off. There was no way I could drive this home now.

"YOU BLOODY FOOL!" I shouted at him, arms flying everywhere. I paced, like an angry bull, over to his car and kicked it, causing me to hurt my foot. "I can't believe this shit. You've smashed my bumper! How am I supposed to get home?!"

Baekhyun walked over and Sehun got out of the passenger side of Chanyeol's car.

"I think he deserves a slap this time," Sehun joked. I scowled at him. Now was not the time to make jokes, Sehun.

"Maybe you should be taking Chanyeol's number, not mine!" Baekhyun laughed.

_Why did they all think this was so bloody hilarious?_

"Damn, I'm so sorry. It was an accident. I'll sort it out. I promise."

I put my head in my hands and took a deep breath. I didn't think Chanyeol couldn't be any more annoying but it seemed the longer I knew him, the more frustrating he became. Baekhyun put his arm around me.

"Come on, I'll drive you home and we can sort this out in the morning."

Shamelessly, I pretended to be upset just so that Baekhyun cuddled me. At least there was something relatively good to come out of this situation I supposed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hyung! I can't believe you did that..." Sehun gasped as they drove away from the studio to their apartment.

"Did what....?" Chanyeol said with the sneakiest look on his face. Sehun could tell he had reversed into her car on purpose. He had that mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he focused on the road ahead.

"You are being so extra, why are you doing this?" Sehun laughed at his friend and began texting on his phone.

"Me being extra? She is the one being extra. You didn't see her shouting at me, being insolent and rude whilst you kindly left me alone to go to the bathroom." Chanyeol grabbed the steering wheel in his right hand, his strong wrist steadying as they went over the bumps. He was driving far too fast. "You're an idiot for leaving me by myself, Oh Sehun."

"Me? You're the one who has deliberately reversed into some girl's car. And not just _some_ girl, someone we're working with. So you need to sort it out before Tan is the one who is slapping you for being unprofessional. Isn't your precious car damaged?"

Chanyeol snorted at Sehun, almost dismissing what his Hyung had sad to him.

"So what if it is? I'll just get it fixed in the garage. _It was an accident..."_

Chanyeol knew it was not an accident. He didn't feel bad about it thought because she deserved it. Why did she have a vendetta against him? They hadn't even had a proper conversation so why was she judging him and being so evil? She seemed so grumpy all of the time and so miserable. She wasn't like anyone he had ever met before. He thought her grunge rock-chic look was so dated. _Hadn't she ever heard of bands past the 1990s?_ Chanyeol tutted to himself and gripped the steering wheel tightly, slamming his foot on the gas pedal. Just thinking of her made him vexed and annoyed.

"Woah! Slow down, Loey, you're going too fast!" Sehun shouted as he grabbed onto the door.

The city zoomed past them at the speed of light as they raced towards their apartment. Dodging the traffic was stressful at high speed and by the time they arrived, Chanyeol felt unusually drained. He pondered his decision to reverse into her car and instantly felt bad about it. _Why was he acting like this?_ It wasn't something that he would normally do. He moped into the apartment and shut the door to his room. Reaching for his phone out of his pocket, he dialled Haeun.

"Hello?" Haeun answered, sounding sleepy.

"I thought I'd call you as we've finished our schedule for the evening."

There was an awkward silence and Chanyeol began to fiddle with the buckle on his belt.

"Chanyeol... please? I'm sleeping. Can't you call me tomorrow?"

He took a sharp intake of breath as those words made him feel even worse than he did before he phoned her.

"Yes. Bye." He cancelled the call and dropped his phone on the bed. Walking over towards his desk, he sat at his piano and began to play some Beethoven as he felt melancholy. Wallowing in his misery, he began to doubt whether dating Haeun was a good idea after all.

* * *

Fuming and scowling, I got into Baekyun's car with him and buckled up. As we drove off, I couldn't take my eyes off my mangled bumper. Yes, my car was old and rubbish compared to Chanyeol's expensive Mercedes G-Wagon-idiot-mobile but the point was it was _my_ car and now I had no other way to get round the city. Plus it would cost money to fix and money I did not have.

"Cheer up," said Baekhyun in his excitable manner. "I'm sure it was an accident."

_Yeah right, Baekhyun. You're just covering for your Hyung._

I hummed at him. I didn't want to talk about it because it made me so angry.

"Chanyeol will get it sorted out, honestly. He isn't an asshole like you think he is."

"Oh really?" I replied. _Of course he was an asshole. He reversed into my car... on purpose._

"Where am I dropping you off?" Baekhyun said sweetly, smiling at me as he took his gaze off the road. I went from feeling pure, relentless anger about Chanyeol to unadulterated nervousness in the now escalating situation with Baekhyun. _Shit. Should I invite him in? Will he want to come in? Am I reading his signs properly? Does he even like me or does he feel sorry for me? Is it professional to have feelings for someone you're working with? ARGH!_

"Oh, just keep driving on this road until you go over the bridge. Then it's left at the 7/11 store and we live in the tall building by the river." I watched the world go by as we drove past and he tried to make conversation with me. We talked about the recording selections and he shared his first impressions of Wae and QM with me. He was fond of being very loud and it made me jump at times when he randomly shouted or screamed. Baekhyun was clearly an excitable individual, strangely similar to Sehun and _The Idiot, Chanyeol._ I shivered as I thought of him and it made me feel angry again as I wondered if my car would be ok, damaged and sitting in the parking lot alone.

Baekhyun parked outside of my apartment and we sat silently in his car for a few seconds. I could feel the tension rising and he turned to face me.

"So, good night then?" he softly whispered, smiling at one corner of his full lips and sweeping some of his fringe aside with his long, dainty fingers.

"Thank you for the ride," I replied, averting my gaze from his. He leant across and kissed me on the cheek, his lips pressed carefully and softly. _The cheek? Hold on. Didn't he try and lead me into his bedroom for full on one-night-stand sex a few weeks ago? Now he is kissing me on the cheek like a timid little boy? Come on, Baekhyun..._

He pulled away gently and put his hand on my knee.

"Let's take this slowly, especially if we are supposed to be working together? Maybe we should get to know each other first before diving into bed together."

My heart sunk into the pit of my stomach. _How boring._ However, as we had to be professional because we were working together , I had to pretend to agree with him and plaster a cute smile onto my face. I grabbed my bag and left his car, strolling calmy up to my building but wanting to burst into an angry run whilst kicking at the cars parked on the kerbside and punching the streetlights. I wish that I had never been introduced to this group of fools because they all made me so angry. First Chanyeol with his incessant idiocy and now Baekhyun leading me on and then being all shy? Why couldn't they just act like normal humans.

_Ah, I forgot, Chae said they weren't normal humans, were they?_

* * * *

It was 6.30am and I was half-ready for work. I had brushed my hair, put on some clothes (although nothing special because Baekhyun clearly wasn't that interested) and applied makeup. Coffee was the next thing on my list. A lovely, hot, strong coffee.

The doorbell rang.

 _Urgh. Who is it now?_ I wondered if it was the man in the apartment below ours. Sometimes our shower flooded and dripped into his kitchen. _Great, more problems to fix._ Walking through the hallway, I grabbed my keys and threw open the door.

"Oh. It's you," I said as I observed _The Idiot, Chanyeol,_ stood outside my apartment. He was wearing a thick black hoodie, blue jeans and Nike Air-Force Ones with a beanie hat on. Like Baekhyun yesterday, he also wore glasses. He looked sleepy.

"Nice to see you too," he replied as he struggled to fight back a yawn. I arched my eyebrow at him: I was not expecting to turn up here. _How does he know where I live?_

"What are you doing here?" I asked him suspiciously.

"To take you to work. I'm not too late am I?" He leaned up against the door way and smiled. _Was he making a joke?_

"You're here... to take me to work? You know I am quite capable of taking myself to work?"

"I gathered that. But I felt bad for smashing into your car yesterday. So I'm being nice."

I had to admit, this was quite nice of him but still, I didn't need his pity.

"Erm...I'm not going to pretend that it's weird you know where I live..."

"Jongin told me the address. I'm not a stalker."

"Thanks but no thanks. I've got to make a coffee so I'm not ready. I'll get a taxi."

He took his beanie off and ran his hands through his hair before putting it back on, sighing.

"Just get in the car," he said through gritted teeth. "We'll go to Starbucks and get you a coffee." He turned around and began walking off. _Typical rude Chanyeol. Walking off._

I had two choices: first, go with him, save myself the taxi money and get a nice strong coffee from Starbucks or don't.

"WAIT," I shouted to him as he walked down the stairs. I ran back in and grabbed my phone, my bag and my keys, locking the door behind me as I scrambled to catch up with him.

I caught up to him when he was outside and followed him to his gigantic idiot-mobile G-Wagon. _Why would you need such a huge, expensive car in the middle of such a big city? Just another show-off idol thing? What a twit._ I peered at the back of his car to see it scuffed from the impact. I smiled slyly: he hadn't got off without damaging his stupid car. He jumped into the drivers side and I opened the door to the huge car, struggling to jump in. As I did, I saw him watch me struggle and laugh. I glared at him as I adjusted myself. _Idiot._

As we drove off, I watched him from the corner of my eye. His huge, manly hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his thick silver watch resting on his wrist. His long fingers, adorned with various silver rings, wrapped themselves around the black leather gear stick as he shifted through the gears. He liked to drive fast. I bit my lip as I could feel us going faster.

"Chanyeol, you're going too fast. Slow down, you idiot," I demanded as I couldn't peel my eyes away from the road, looking for any danger that might befall us. He didn't say anything and carried on speeding down the highway.

"Fine. Ignore me then. I know you like to cause crashes just for the sake of it, anyway."

He looked at me and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said slyly. I tutted at him and turned away. _So arrogant._

Much to my surprise, he put Slayer's 'Raining Blood' on and turned it up really loud so I couldn't even think. I was quite impressed that he was actually listening to some decent music as opposed to the stuff I thought he listened to. I didn't show it on my face though as I didn't want him to think he was getting under my skin. I carried on staring at the road, not talking to him. We pulled up to the Starbucks drive through. He looked over to me.

"What do you want?"

I thought for a moment and decided it was an appropriate time to piss him off. _Revenge._

"Ermm... I think I will have a Venti Green Tea Frappuccino, no base. Some soy to the second line, one scoop bean, one pump skinny mocha, 4 _heaped_ scoops of matcha, heaping grande scoop of ice, blended on level 3."

His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realised I was referring to his ridiculous order from the other day. He frowned at me, scrunching his nose.

"Two Americano coffees, strong, please." He paid with his black card and drove to the next window.

"Hey! That's not what I wanted." I whispered under my breath, " idiot."

"You're not having that. You don't even want it. You're just trying to get back at me."

"No. I _wanted_ that."

"No, you didn't."

_Touche, Chanyeol. Was he willing to play me at my own game?_

The coffees were given to us and I was quite surprised when he didn't try and spill it over me.

"Be careful and don't spill anything on the seats. They're white leather and expensive to clean."

"I wasn't planning to," I retorted.

"Good."

He drove off as he put his coffee in the drinks holder. I didn't say anything to him as I sipped my coffee. It was nice of him to take me to work but he was the reason why I couldn't drive myself. Yes, he was trying to be nice but it was only to cover himself for the spiteful act of smashing into my car. We pulled up outside of the recording studios and I saw my mangled car sat miserably in the parking lot.

"Thanks for the ride and the broken car," I said to him as I grabbed my cup and opened the door of his idiot-mobile.

"Someone is picking it up at noon to fix it."

"Why? I haven't called anyone."

"Well I have."

"You do know I'm not actually a baby, I can do things for myself," I retorted. I knew he was trying to be thoughtful but I just couldn't accept it.

"Do you want me to cancel it then?"

I thought for a moment and realised that he was saving me a lot of hassle.

"No."

"Fine then. Shall I pick you up later?"

_Pick me up? What was this? Chanyeol's Taxi Service?_

"No thank you," I said as I shut the door on him. I didn't look back as I walked into work. Why should I? He was only driving me because he had smashed up my car. He didn't really care. He just felt guilty.

"Good morning," Luci said as I walked in, scrabbling for my ID badge. "Wae is waiting for you."

I rushed upstairs and met Wae, who was setting up for Chen's vocals.

"What happened to your car?" he asked me as he was plugging in various equipment.

"Oh, nothing," I replied. I didn't want to allude to the incident with Chanyeol.

"Are you getting it sorted?"

"You could say that..." I replied. I didn't know what Chanyeol had planned, but I had hoped he would get my car fixed.

* * *

The day passed quickly. Kyungsoo had come into record his vocals. I thought it would be awkward, considering he was the one whom Jongin and Chae wanted to set me up with but it wasn't. We actually had a nice time, talking about music and our favourite song writers. After the session had ended, Kyungsoo offered to take me back home as he had heard Chanyeol had smashed my car up. I accepted his offer and we walked down the steps of the building to his car. It was nice to actually have a decent conversation with someone and I smiled at Kyungsoo as he was telling me about his next acting project. As we approached his car in the car park, I noticed the idiot-mobile was parked in one of the spaces and Chanyeol was getting out of the car.

"Hyung, what are you doing here?" Kyungsoo asked as he went up and high-fived his bandmate. _This wasn't awkward at all..._

"I've come to take you home," Chanyeol said as he pointed at me. I didn't actually think he would be serious when he said he was going to pick me up.

"Oh, that's alright, I'll take her home," Kyungsoo said as he smiled at Chanyeol. I could see his face change as I stood there in-between the two men. There was an awkward silence and I didn't know what to say. Chanyeol broke the silence.

"Fine, you go with Kyungsoo," he said as he sharply turned away and got into his car. He struggled to put the car into gear; it made an awful grinding noise and he drove off, causing a passing vehicle to slam it's breaks as he cut it up.

"What's up with Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asked me as he opened his car doors.

"I don't know..." I replied as I wondered why on earth Chanyeol had sped off like that.

"Maybe he has fallen out with Haeun?"

"Who is Haeun?" I asked, tilting my head.

Kgungsoo got into his car and I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Ahh, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, carry on," I urged Kyungsoo as I buckled my seat belt. He twisted his lip around as if he was uncomfortable with what he was going to say.

"Haeun is Chanyeol's girlfriend. They've only been together for a few months ."

"Oh, right," I replied, feeling some what annoyed at the mention of her name. I wasn't sure why I felt so annoyed. "Are they not on good terms, then?" I asked.

"I don't think so. They've not seen each other for a while. He seems upset by it."

"Good," I said, without thinking.

"You really don't like Chanyeol, do you?" he said to me as he glanced at me whilst steering the car.

I didn't reply to him. _Did I dislike him?_ I knew he was an idiot but he had shown me a different side to him by taking me to work this morning. I pinched myself. _Snap out of it, he is an idiot._ _You don't like him._


	6. Chapter 6

Chanyeol drove through the city, weaving in and out of the traffic. He was not in a good mood. Why had he bothered to go and pick her up when she was just going to be rude and refuse his offer? It wasn't like she was unaware he was taking her home. He was only doing it because he felt guilty for reversing into her car. She was ungrateful. He was wasting his time being nice.

Haeun had asked him to come over to her place. Things were frosty and awkward between them but Chanyeol wanted to make an effort. He liked to think he was a sweet boyfriend. Stopping off at the gas station, he bought her some beautiful flowers: roses, lilies and lilacs. Chanyeol moved swiftly through the gas station as he didn't want anyone to recognise him. He pulled his black face mask on but he knew he stood out because he was taller than the average Korean man.

Luckily, no one saw him and he managed to pay without problems or hassle. When he got to Haeun's building, he rang the bell and she invited him up. Hiding the flowers behind his back, he felt a sense of nervous anticipation before she opened the door.

"Hi," she said as she forced a smile.

He leaned in to kiss her but she shied away from his affections. _Why was she being frosty?_

"Come in, Chanyeol," she said. She couldn't be less animated as she tried. He held out the flowers, smiling and she saw them. There was no thanks or no praise: she simply took them from him and placed them clumsily on the kitchen counter. He sat down on one of the breakfast table chairs whilst she poured him some tea.

"I think you know what I'm about to say," she began as she rustled around in the cupboards. Chanyeol felt numb to her words.

"I'm moving away. I'm moving to California to stay with my cousin." The air was thick with tension. She had mentioned that she wanted to move to San Francisco to be with her cousin before but he never thought she would act on it. It still came as a shock to him that she was actually going through with it. Even though they had only been dating for a short while, he felt like he had developed an attachment to her.

Chanyeol suddenly began to feel an intense anger brewing inside of him. Without warning, he stood up and snatched the flowers from the table and threw them aggressively at the wall. _Why was everything going wrong?_ He knew he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with Haeun but it didn't mean he didn't enjoy her company and affections.

"Chanyeol..." she said as she tried to calm him.

He looked at her, shook his head and sighed.

"I guess this is it then?" He began, softly.

She shrugged her shoulders at him.

"I mean, I would like for us to stay friends?" she replied as she went to touch his shoulder.

Chanyeol knew there was no use in being angry with her. She had every right to move away and she wasn't trying to be hurtful towards him. At least she was going to end the relationship whilst it was relatively good instead of trying to drag it out until all but embers struggled to burn in the ashes. Still, he couldn't help but feel disappointment.

"Of course," he replied with a heavy heart. He apologised for throwing the flowers on the ground and tried to salvage whatever was left of them. She told him it would be ok and hugged him. Chanyeol grabbed on tight, burying his head in her shoulders, taking in her scent for one last time.

* * *   
There was no questioning that Baekhyun's vocals would be perfect. He made no mistakes. She liked that about him. Every time he recorded his parts, he would sing like an angel and then somehow there would be a burst of raw sexuality from no where. It made her blush. There seemed to be two sides to Baekhyun: innocent Baekhyunnie and smouldering Baek.

As he slid out of the recording booth and walked over to MQ to assess his recording, he held her gaze for slightly longer than he thought was professional. She began to smile but hid it well by pretending to cough.

"Are you ok...?" Wae asked her as he gave her a sly look.

"Fine!" she quickly replied. _Shit. I hope Wae doesn't start thinking things about Baekhyun and me..._

"Tomorrow we need to record the rapping so Sehun and Chanyeol will be coming in," QM began as he fiddled with the equipment in the studio.

_Wonderful. Two childish, overgrown babies._

Wae and QM were discussing some of the final cuts with Tan and seemed to be having an issue with agreeing the mix of one of the songs.

"We need an air horn in this. But not an electronic computerised one: a real one. Baby, can you go to the shop and buy one? We need an authentic sound."

_Seriously. You're asking me to get an air horn? Because that's not one of the most ridiculous requests ever. Besides The Idiot Chanyeol's Starbucks order._

"Yes, of course. What's the budget?"

"No limit," Tan quickly said. It was clearly important.

I nodded my head and left the studio. Baekhyun was sat on the sofa playing his Nintendo Switch. I didn't say anything to him as I was feeling way too nervous and bashful but he called my name as I was just about to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked as he flicked his perfect black hair out of his eyes.

"To buy an air horn," I said as I tried not to laugh.

"That's, erm, not weird is it?"

I laughed playfully at him, probably sounding like a crazed old lady. I was so embarrassing.

"I'll come with you," he said without thinking.

I chewed my lip and tried not to smile. He gave me butterflies at the thought of some time alone with him.

"I don't think so..." came a voice from the studio. It was Tan. Internally, I rolled my eyes at the manager. He was being such a cock-block.

"Ahhh, Tan please. I'll wear a face mask and a hat. I promise I won't be noticeable." Baekhyun began to clasp his hands together as if he was praying for Tan to let him accompany me.

"No. Baby isn't paid for you to do her job for her." _Wow, Tan. That's low._

"Fine!" Baekhyun sulked. "Do you need me to drive you home tonight?" he said with a sneaky smile directed at Tan. Baekhyun knew what he was saying; he was coming very close to breaking idol rules by offering me a lift in front of his manager.

"Oh...erm," I began to stutter as I wasn't sure what to say in front of Tan. Obviously I wanted Baekhyun to take me home instead of having to get a taxi or catch the bus but I didn't want Tan to catch onto this budding _friendship_ between us.

"No," Tan interrupted. "She does not need you to drive her home."

"Oh, ok then," I replied sounding confused. _Why was Tan speaking for me?_

There was another silence and I thought it would be a good time to leave to buy this stupid airhorn. As I stepped outside, I noticed that my car was parked in the parking lot with a shiny new bumper. I thought about Chanyeol, _The Idiot_ and wondered whether I should text him and thank him. _Why should you thank someone that caused the damage in the first place?_ I shook my head and carried on with the errand. I didn't have his number anyway.

* * *

Frantically searching for his phone to turn off his alarm, Chanyeol winced at the thought of getting up so early. He knew he had to be in the studio at the break of dawn in order to get his recording done. Pulling himself out of bed, he yawned as he walked into the shower. He had to be quick because he was picking Sehun up in half an hour. The hot water drenched his hair and trickled down his supple, toned body. When he was finished, he brushed his teeth and pulled on some clothes. He chose a pair of black, ripped skinny jeans and an oversized hoody. Putting his contact lenses in carefully, he wished he could spend the day sulking in bed. He felt upset about Haeun ending things with him but he didn't want to bring the vibe down of recording. After all, Chanyeol was passionate about music and he didn't want to ruin his rapping.

"Good morning," Sehun said as he climbed into Chanyeol's car. Chanyeol nodded at him. It was too early for a conversation. Sehun got the hint and they sat in comfortable silence as they drove to the studio. As they pulled up, they noticed that her car was parked in the parking lot with its shiny new bumper. _At least that had been fixed._ He was still annoyed by her thought, especially as she had been so rude about him taking her home the other day.

* * *

I sat at my desk and yawned. These early starts that Tan had demanded were too much. I just wanted to be in my bed, cosy and asleep. I certainly did not want to be dealing with the two childish babies' demands all day, especially _The Idiot, Chanyeol._

Of course they were early when they turned up. Sehun looked immaculate, wearing a black roll-neck sweater and a tweed blazer. Chanyeol couldn't look more casual if he tried. He looked like he had just got out of bed.

As they walked into the office, I could feel Chanyeol glaring at me. _What had I done now?_ I thought we were even. He had reversed into my car but he had paid for it to be fixed. Surely we were even?

He spent the whole day frowning, sulking and refusing to speak to me. The only time he spoke was when he had to seem professional in front of Tan, Wae and MQ. I wanted to pull him up on his attitude but I didn't because we were supposed to be working together and I didn't want my bosses to think that I was about to ruin one of the biggest contracts we had ever worked on.

Sehun could sense the tension. As Wae called for Chanyeol to come and record, I watched him stand up and walk past my desk towards to the studio. He starred at me and I could tell there was something on his mind. However, it was not my place to know what _The Idiot_ was thinking. After all, I was only here to help with the recording: I wasn't his therapist. I fixed my eyes on him as he walked away but I found that as I tried to tear my gaze away from him, I couldn't. It was as if he had hypnotised me.

"You shouldn't stare, it's rude," Chanyeol muttered in his deep tones. I tried to shake the embarrassment I felt as he clocked me looking at him. I was flustered and didn't know what to say to him so I stuck my middle finger up at him. Sehun gasped in shock. I was lucky my bosses didn't see.


	7. Chapter 7

Sehun gave me a disapproving look as Chanyeol disappeared into the studio.

"Why did you do that?!" he asked me as he sat back, effortlessly in his chair. There was almost an air of sophistication about Sehun that made him seem like his was royalty. Dark hair, dark eyes, porcelain skin: he was mesmerising to look at.

"He started it," I replied trying not to sound like a petulant child.

"Give him a break, he's going through some stuff at the moment."

I rolled my eyes. _Oh dear, the poor baby is going through something. Tough. It doesn't give him the excuse to be rude. All he_ _has_ _done is frown, sulk and refuse to speak to me. All because I didn't accept his ride home? He's not the boss of me._

I carried on with the jobs that MQ had given me, which included tracking some of Chanyeol's vocals and raps. This meant I had to concentrate on listening to his baritone voice as it vibrated through my headphones and penetrated every inch of my body, causing goosebumps to prickle on my skin. I mean, he was an idiot but his voice was kind of sexy. _No. Stop it._ He wasn't sexy, he was a tall, fumbling, grumpy idiot who had a vendetta against me.

Around an hour into Chanyeol's vocal recording, something strange happened. My MacBook wouldn't register anything, making me panic like nothing else had done before: this was a huge project with a lot of pressure - under no circumstances could I fuck it up. QM, Wae and Tan hadn't noticed that nothing was recording until there was a huge BANG! One of the amplifiers connected to Chanyeol's microphone had blown up, causing a cloud of grey smoke to fill the booth. Sehun and I both stared intently at each other for a second, in reaction to the bang, and then flew into the studio to see the commotion. Tan had grabbed onto Chanyeol, pulling him out of the booth and MQ was shouting something at Wae. I rushed to the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall and, holding it out in front like it was a poisonous snake, I aimed it at the amplifier and squirted. White foam sprayed _everywhere_ and completely drenched Chanyeol and Tan. _Oh dear._

"STOP!" Chanyeol bellowed as he was frantically trying to shake the white foam off his clothes and face. "Why did you do that?! THERE'S NOT EVEN A FIRE."

I felt my face flush bright red with pure embarrassment. I honestly hadn't meant to cover him in the foam. I just saw the smoke and thought there would be a fire. Wasn't it better to be safe that sorry?

"There's not even a FIRE!" MQ repeated what Chanyeol had said. Everyone was staring at me. I knew I had fucked up. Sehun began laughing until Tan shot daggers at him, causing him to put his hand in front of his mouth of disguise his chuckles.

"She did that on purpose," Chanyeol spat at me as he pointed.

"No I didn't!" I protested as I threw my hands in the air angrily. "I thought you were on fire, I was trying to be helpful. Idiot." I said the last word under my breath but I hadn't said it quiet enough because Chanyeol heard.

"What did you call me?"

"Woah, stop. This is not what we need right now," Wae interrupted putting his palms out in front of him. He shot me one of his disapproving glances, narrowing his eyes at me.

"She was only trying to help," Sehun said as he watched Tan and Chanyeol wipe the foam from their arms and chests. _At least he can see I wasn't trying to be horrible._

 _"_ Oh shut up, Sehun," Chanyeol bit back. He was not in a good mood. Sehun stepped back and raised his hands, showing Chanyeol that he wasn't going to argue with his angry bandmate.

"Firstly, we need to come out of the studio because that amplifier is not safe until it has been checked out by maintenance. Tan, Sehun, Chanyeol; I am truly very sorry, this has never happened before. We will compensate you for lost time and expenses because of this. Please, accept our deepest apologies."

Even though he was sopping with fire extinguisher foam, Tan the Manager saw the funnier side of the incident and began to laugh.

"Well we certainly hadn't planned for this to happen!" he replied. "I appreciate this wasn't anyone's fault and as for the fire extinguisher, the girl was only trying to help."

_Damn right I was only trying to help._

"That's what you think," Chanyeol muttered under his breath.

Tan turned sideways and pursed his lips at Chanyeol to show his disapproval.

"We will need to go and change, though."

"Oh yes, that is totally understandable but please, to show our sincerest apologies, we would like to invite you all out for something to eat. We can't continue with the recording but can discuss concepts over beer?"

Tan looked at Sehun and Chanyeol. Sehun nodded but Chanyeol didn't even look him in the eye. It was obvious he didn't want to join in. 

"We would love to," replied the manager.

"That's settled then. Let's go to Hanchu, the fried chicken there is delicious."

I nodded and turned to leave the room to grab my things. As I left, I made sure that I held Chanyeol's gaze, smirking at him. Obviously I hadn't planned to soak him in foam but I had to admit, it was pretty funny to see him stood there all soppy and angry. A pinched expression flooded his face and I left the room to call the restaurant feeling quite smug.

* * *

"This is an important dinner, we need to make sure that Tan is happy with our work. Who knows, if they like what we do with their album, we could be working with them in the future?"

MQ was insistent that I came along for the meal, even though I tried to convince him that it wouldn't be appropriate considering I had soaked Tan and Chanyeol in foam earlier. Wae agreed that it would be better to be there to represent as team. My only request was that I drove to Hanchu from the studio, so that I could leave when I wanted to. I didn't want anymore awkward conversations that day. 

Our server led us to a table at the back of the restaurant. It was a nice, relaxed place with exposed brick walls and neon lighting. We sat down and ordered beers. It wasn't unusual for us to drink alcohol during work dinners. I would only have one; after all, I was driving home. MQ and Wae were telling me about another time there had been an incident with a piece of their equipment which caused the whole building to be shut down for a week. I supposed we were lucky this was just a trivial setback. MQ assured me that we would be able to go back to the studio to record tomorrow. I was about to ask them about the schedule for the following days when I saw Tan and Sehun walk in. Chanyeol was dragging behind: he really looked like he didn't want to be there.

"Ah, Tan, Sehun, Chanyeol!" Wae said as he stood up and greeted them with a hearty laugh. Everyone sat down with Sehun sitting next to me. Chanyeol was at the other end of the table. _Good._ I didn't want to be close to him and listen to his boastful stories about how he plays drums and piano and guitar and the fucking triangle.

We ordered more drinks and some food, discussing the future concept of the album with the boys. Time seemed to pass quickly and I didn't realise but the server had been topping up our beers without is noticing. Within the space of 90 minutes, I had become really quite drunk. 

"Darling, you seem to be quite tipsy," Sehun giggled as he put his hand on my shoulder. He had drunk a bit too much too. 

"Oh no!" I hiccuped, "I won't be able to drive myself home!"I smacked my forehead to indicate how silly I had been but I really didn't care. At this point, I wasn't even thinking about how I was going to get home. 

"Sehun, let's go out!" I said as I grabbed him by the hands.

"Where are we going to go?" he asked me, his eyes full of excitement. 

"I don't know but let's go and dance! I'll text Chae. You text Jongin. Come on, it will be fun!"

Sehun clapped his hands in excitement and I could see Chanyeol craning his neck to see what we were fussing over. _He isn't invited, he will just be miserable or try and rile Sehun up._

I told Wae and MQ that Sehun and I were leaving to go to a club. They obviously didn't want to come with us but gave us their blessing to leave. We grabbed our coats and headed out into the streets. As we walked, arm in arm towards the private members club we had met in a few weeks ago, I noticed that Chanyeol was trailing behind us. 

"Urgh! What does he want?!" I said to Sehun as I rolled my eyes. Sehun looked back and waved at his friend. 

"Chanyeol!" he shouted as he let go of me and ran into Chanyeol's arms. _Great. Now I'm being third-wheel to Sechan..._

"I didn't want to be left alone with the old men," Chanyeol said as he hugged Sehun. He looked me up and down, and smirked. 

"What are you laughing at?" I questioned Chanyeol. As I had drank quite a lot of beer, I didn't care whether I was being provocative with him. 

"I'm not laughing at you," he said as he flicked my shoulder with his finger. I looked up into his deep, dark eyes and blushed. _Nope, now is not the time to flirting with him._

The boys were beginning to pick up their pace because they were starting to attract attention from passers by. Sehun grabbed my hand and we slipped into the private members club. I had text Chae and asked her to join us and to invite Jongin. She had arrived a few minutes after we had. I clung to Sehun and danced with him, trying to avoid the hypnotism of _The Idiot, Chanyeol._ We spent the night on the dance floor, drinking beer and laughing with each other. I remember I kept hugging Chae and Jongin but at one point in the night, Chanyeol pulled me off Jongin and began dancing with me. I didn't care that I was dancing with _The Idiot._ He wrapped his strong, muscly arms around my waist and I draped mine around his neck. Maybe it was the alcohol but I enjoyed being close to him and feeling his warmth against my body. He smelt gorgeous and he looked even more delicious. My head was swimming as I gazed into his eyes. He winked at me which sent shockwaves down my spine. I absolutely hated him: he was arrogant, he was rude and he was a miserable yet I felt myself hypnotised by him. 

"What are you doing?!" Chae squealed as she came over and saw me with Chanyeol. 

I didn't know what to say to her.

"You hate Chanyeol!" 

I looked at him and pushed him off me. After all, I had to pretend that I didn't like him because I had to hide my real feelings. I was falling hard and fast for Chanyeol. Did he feel the same? 

"Ew, you're such an idiot," I said to him as I pushed him away. His face changed into a confused expression. I turned my back on him and went to sit with Chae at one of the corner booths. 

"Why were you dancing with your arms over Chanyeol?!" she asked me, puzzled. 

"Erm... I..."

I had to think of something to say so Chae didn't think I was into him but I struggled. 

"You are so into him, aren't you?" she asked me with a cheeky giggle. She could see right through me. I blushed and turned away from her. 

"Oh my GOSHHH!" she shouted as she finally cottoned on. _I had been dancing with him all night, it was hardly a secret..._

Chanyeol walked over to us and took me by the hand. 

"Come on, let's go," he said as he grabbed me and pulled me into his chest. I was completely wrapped up in his tall, handsome figure and I was too drunk to care what people thought of us. He held my hand and we left the club, clambering into a taxi that he had haled on the street. In the back of the taxi, his hands began caressing my thighs. His long, thick fingers were creeping dangerously close to my womanhood. He began kissing my neck, leaving soft traces with his peachy lips.

"Shhh! Not in the taxi," I giggled to him as I placed the palm of my hand on the waistband of his jeans. My hand gradually crept towards his crotch so I could feel his hard cock throbbing against his jeans. 

Park Chanyoel was trouble but he was my kind of trouble. 


	8. Chapter 8

The dawn was breaking through the open blinds was annoying. _Just give me five more minutes._ My eyes remained closed and I tried to fall back into a deep sleep. I pulled the covers over my shoulders until something didn't seem right. With great effort, I forced open my sleepy eyes.

_Oh. No. Oh. No._

Chanyeol lay next to me, his messy blonde hair covering his face. I didn't dare move in case it woke him up. A rush of fear and regret drained my whole body and I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. _What had we done?_

Carefully, I turned my head to scan the room. Clothes were scattered around the room, my bag was dumped on his chair and my leather jacket was draped clumsily on his piano. _How was I ever going to get out of this one?_

My main concern was leaving Chanyeol's room without him waking up but I quickly realised that Chanyeol didn't live by himself; he lived with 8 other men. One of them happened to be my roommates boyfriend! _If Jongin finds out then this is never going to be kept a secret...._

I took a deep breath and slowly rolled out of Chanyeol's bed. Crouching on the floor, I silently gathered my clothes and put them on. As I crept over to fetch my jacket and bag, the floorboard creaked and Chanyeol stirred. _Shit!_ I held my breath as I desperately waited for him to either wake up or go back to sleep. Luckily, he did the latter. I tiptoed out of his room and shut the door very quietly, wincing as I did so.

"Good morning!" came the chipper voice of Junmyeon as he waltzed past me, cup of coffee in his hand and a cheeky smile plastered on his face. _He knows. This is so awkward._

"Oh... good, erm, morning," I replied, dying inside with embarrassment. I could not believe I had bumped into Suho. Out of all of them, this would he would be the worst. It would be most unprofessional because he was their bloody leader! I wanted to dart across to the front door and make my hasty exit but I knew that would be stupid. I had to act calm, composed and carefully.

Taking a deep breath, I glided gracefully over to the kitchen where Suho was filling his cup of coffee.

"Good night?" he asked me as he reached for a cup from the cupboard.

"Oh, no coffee for me please, I need to get a taxi to pick up my car and then go to work," I replied as I reached my hand out to stop him. He had already poured it. _Nooo! I just want to escape, not sit and make awkward chat about last night!_

"I am sorry, I shall pour it away," he said sounding disheartened. I knew I couldn't be rude and refuse the coffee now. It would be impolite, especially as he was a client.

"No! Actually I would like some, please. Thank you, Suho." _Surely a five minute coffee wouldn't make me that late for work?_

"Call me Junmyeon," he insisted as he passed me the white china cup. I sipped on my coffee as there was a silence. _What do I say now?! Yes Junmyeon, I've just fucked your bandmate and now I'm off to record another bandmate's vocals. Classy._

"Where did you party?" He asked as he sat at the breakfast table.

I tried to think hard but the majority of the night was a blur. I remembered Sehun and I leaving the meal to party, and Chanyeol, the idiot, who followed Sehun like a puppy, had to tag along. I remembered dancing with Sehun and then, _oh god,_ dancing with The Idiot. His hands over me. Going back in a taxi with him. His full lips peppering my neck with soft kisses and then his fingers slowly creeping up my thighs, sliding down under my panties and...

"Good morning," came the low, deep rasp of The Idiot as he ran his long fingers through his messy blonde hair. He had his round, silver glasses on which hid his tired eyes. He wore a navy blue sweater and baggy, dark jeans that hung off his tall frame. He looked very cute. _No. He looked like a tall fool who overstepped the boundaries by dancing with me. And the rest..._

I nearly spat my coffee out as I heard him speak. _Oh god. He knows that I'm here. He can see me still in my clothes from last night._ It was too awkward to even believe and my face began to flush. Junmyeon smiled at Chanyeol as he watched him walk over to the coffee pot and grab a cup. I stared into the dark abyss of my coffee, hoping it would turn into a black hole and swallow me up. The air was thick with tension. Chanyeol came and sat next to me. I could still smell his Acqua Di Parma cologne; it make me feel giddy with lust for him as I remembered his two fingers sliding slowly under my panties and creeping dangerously into my wet slit last night. _He certainly knows how to use those manly hands of his..._

"Good morning," he said to me stoney-faced in his flat tone. There was no lust or romance here. He seemed like he couldn't even be bothered to have woken up.

"Hi," I replied awkwardly. Junmyeon looked between Chanyeol and I, no confusion on his face at all. He was a good leader because he sensed the weird tension and broke it with small talk. _Thank god for Junmyeon._

"So who is recording today then?" he asked me politely. I chewed my lip, trying to think of my professional duties but only the images of Chanyeol's thick thighs pushing my legs open as he towered on top of me, crossing his arms as he clumsily pulled his T-shirt off exposing his toned muscley body.

"Erm... it is, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo," I replied. The panic only intensified when I thought about Baekhyun. _What if he finds out about this? He would be disgusted._ I knew I had to just come out and say what was on my mind to clear the air for the sake of professionalism.

"Look," I began as I finished my coffee and slammed it down on the table, "what happened here _didn't happen_ _,_ ok? Wae and QM _cannot_ find out that I was here. Even though _nothing happened._ It is completely unprofessional of me to even be here and I am sorry for causing embarrassment for you all. I hope this isn't awkward at work for you both. Let's all forget this happened and move on, professionally. Are you both down with that?"

"As down as you were last night," I heard Chanyeol mutter under his breath. My eyes flashed wild with anger and embarrassment (and maybe a dash of lust) as I stared at him. _Shhh you bloody fool. Junmyeon does not need to know this._ It only made the tension between us worse.

Not wanting to feel the worst cringe in my life, I stood up and picked up my bag from the floor, heading out towards the apartment exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" came Chanyeol as he spoke in his deep rasp. I froze on the spot. _What does he mean "where am I going?"_ He said it with such an attitude that I couldn't help but be firey back with him. Plus I was angry he was alluding to what we did last night _in front of Junmyeon..._

"Away from you," I said as I grabbed the handle and pressed down on it.

"No you're not," he said as he got up and paced over to me. I turned around and looked at him, arching my eyebrow at the fact he was telling me what to do.

"Excuse me?" I replied as I crossed my arms to show my disapproval at being spoken to like that.

"How are you going to get home?" he asked as he stood about an inch from me. I could smell the coffee on his breath and his warmth overpowered me. He stood and stuck his right arm out, scrabbling for his car keys from the table, still maintaining his stare.

I didn't reply as I was hypnotised by his gaze, blinking quickly and swallowing the lump building in my throat. He drew a sharp intake of breath and I had to focus ridiculously hard on not responding with a lustful groan. _Stupid, sexy idiot._

"I'll drive you to your car," he continued. "Then you can drive to work. Or home," he leant down and whispered into my ear. "You might want a shower..."

I still didn't say anything because Park Chanyeol had got me around the tip of his finger with his damn sexy stare, deep voice and general existence.

"Helloooo?" he asked as he jangled his keys in front of my eyes. It made me jump and I snapped out of his hypnosis.

"No. I'm walking," I protested.

_Stop protesting. You want him to fuck you in his car._ _You want his hands around your waist and in your hair._ _You want to climb on top of him and ride him_ _whilst_ _his thick hands spread on your butt guiding you on top of his hard cock._ _His cold Rolex brushing against your skin causing you to shiver as he is about to cu..._

"Helllooo? Are you even still on this planet?"

He poked me. I was completely phased by thoughts of this idiot. _This bloody stupid sexy idiot._

"I don't think she's fully awake!" came the voice of Junmyeon as he laughed.

"Don't you tell anyone about this, Junmyeon," came the voice of Chanyeol as he pretended to threaten Junmyeon with a fist.

If anyone _had_ to know about this, it would be Junmyeon as I knew he wouldn't tell anyone. I could trust him.

"Fine," I said to Chanyeol as I rolled my eyes at him. He pulled his beanie onto his head as we left and went into his idiot mobile G-Wagon.

As it was very early in the morning, the roads were relatively quiet. Still, Chanyeol drove like a maniac, speeding through the city. The atmosphere in the car was tense and I could tell he was thinking the same thing that I was. I had to cross my legs because I could feel myself getting wet at the thought of fucking him. I hoped I was hiding it well because I was so ready to beg him to pull over and do me on the hard shoulder of the freeway.

I knew I couldn't show him my vulnerability. We would never work. He was too self-centred. I was too demanding. We were supposed to be working on a project, not each other. I needed to step up my bitterness towards him so it would throw him off the scent.

Anyway, we had a professional relationship to uphold and it would be very unprofessional to be fucking Chanyeol. At least with Baekhyun, there was nothing but casual flirting going on. Nothing had actually happened with him so that was ok. I knew I had to see these boys through a professional lens and that included Baekhyun as well as Chanyeol.

As we pulled up to where I had left my car, I unclipped my seat belt and bent down to grab my bag. Chanyeol was staring at me as he had one wrist draped lazily over the steering wheel and the other with fingers wrapped around the gearstick. I didn't want to look at him for fear I would break my poker face.

I pushed the car door open and clambered into the street, reaching clumsily for my keys in my bag.

"Thanks," I said nonchalantly.

"For what?" he replied with that stupid twinkle in his eye, curling the side of his lip in an intoxicating smile. _Damn sexy idiot._

"The ride," I said back showing no emotion.

"Which one...?" he winked at me and I had to bite so hard on my lip to stop myself from a)smiling & b) diving into the car to ravish him. The pit of my stomach began to churn with butterflies and I felt my knees grow weak at the thought of fucking Chanyeol.

It was best that I didn't say anything. I stuck my two fingers up at him, rudely, and quickly turned away so he didn't see me smirking. _Park Chanyeol is trouble...._

I got into my car, noticing he was still parked up watching me. _Just drive off. Leave. Don't look back. Drive home. Have a shower. Go to work. Nothing happened._

Obviously, as I pulled into first gear and drove away, I couldn't tear myself away from the sight of him in my rear mirror.

_Stupid. Sexy. Idiot. Chanyeol._


	9. Chapter 9

_Obviously_ Chae had to be in the kitchen making coffee when I stumbled into my apartment. She looked me up and down with a smirk. _She knows._ It suddenly dawned on me that she was there at the club and saw me dancing suggestively with Chanyeol. She saw me leave with him...

I couldn't hide the fact that I'd _left_ with him but she didn't need to know we how the rest of the evening went. _For all she knows, I could have slept on their sofa..._

"How was he?!" she giggled into her coffee. I scowled at her so she knew I was not impressed with her abrupt questioning.

"Who?" I brushed her m off as I dumped my bag down and kicked off my shoes.

"You know who!"

I didn't reply to her straight away so there was a silence as I carried on hanging my coat up.

"If you're suggesting that something happened between that idiot, Chanyeol, and I then you are wrong. Very wrong." I had to think of something to cover my story quickly. "We were so drunk that we fell asleep, _actually..."_

Chae pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows: she wasn't buying my lies.

"Ask Junmyeon then if you don't believe me. He found me asleep on their sofa this morning..."

"So how did you get home then?" she asked suspiciously.

"Taxi." I couldn't have given her a quicker response.

Chae hummed in disbelief. I was really going to have to dial up my external hatred of Chanyeol now just to prove that nothing had gone on or was going on between us. Anyway, it was one drunken night. Nothing else was going to happen.

This wasn't going to be easy though because I didn't want to be too obvious around Chae. After all, everything I said to Chae would be fed back to Jongin. Jongin would be telling god knows who in EXO. Nothing was safe. I had to be methodical in my planning.

I hastily made my excuse to leave and jumped in the shower. As I got ready for work, I checked my phone to see if I had any text messages. _Nothing._

_Did he even have my phone number?_

Walking back into the living area, I got my bag, leather jacket and left for work. Chae was getting suspicious and I needed to prove to her that I intensely disliked Chanyeol. I suddenly had an excellent idea. _What if I suggest that she invites some of the boys round here for a movie night?_ That would give me an excuse to act outwardly mean towards Chanyeol. I could say that I wanted to get to know them better. That way, everyone could see that there was nothing going on between us. And I could prove to Chanyeol that nothing _was_ going to happen. He was sorely mistaken if he thinks there will be a repeat of last night.

It was a perfect plan and luckily, Chae though it was a good idea. She said that she would ask Jongin if Friday night was good for them. 

* * *

The studio was empty when I had arrived because I had got there so early. I wondered if Wae and QM were pleased that I had gone out with Sehun and Chanyeol? Surely it wasn't a bad thing if I was socialising with clients?

I began prepping the studio for Baekhyun and Kyungsoo's recording session when the door went. Baekhyun had arrived by himself. _Please don't make this awkward. Please don't be awkward._

"Good morning!" he chimed with a smile on his face. There was no one else in the studio so he walked over to me and gave me a hug, tightly squeezing as he buried his head in my shoulder. He smelt of cinnamon and I couldn't help but hug him back. Despite coming across as a player when I first met him, Baekhyun seemed like a genuinely warm and friendly person. He pulled back from me and stood at a safe distance but not too far away.

"Are you alright?" he asked me as he affectionately stroked my arm with his. _Was he flirting with me?_

"Yes, how are you?"

"I'm all the better for seeing you..."

I felt so guilty when he said that. Of course Baekhyun was a lovely boy; he seemed friendly, sweet and thoughtful but somehow something was missing. _He wasn't Chanyeol..._ I clenched my jaw as I realised what I was thinking. 

"Baekhyun," I began as I cleared my throat. "I really like you but maybe we should just maintain a professional relationship until this is over? I don't want anything to get in the way of he doing our jobs properly."

I couldn't look him in the eyes as I said it. I was worried he would see through my lies. I will be totally honest, I didn't care about the recording. I just didn't want to lead Baekhyun on when I was beginning to develop these utterly ridiculous feelings for Chanyeol. My head began to spin as I released what I was doing thinking of _the Idiot_ like this.

 _"_ Look," he began as he took my hand, "when this is over and done with, maybe we should take it from there and see what happens?" A somber expression took over his face.

I smiled weakly at him because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I figured maybe I should politely decline his offer but I was too much of a coward so I just nodded my head at him. 

_What are you doing, nodding at him?!_

Luckily, we were interrupted by the others as they walked in. For once in my life I had never been more grateful to see my bosses, Tan and Kyungsoo as they all clutched coffees.

The day was spent doing vocals and I was mesmerised by how beautiful they both sang. The recording sessions went well and it was nice to build a relationship with Kyungsoo too. Even though he seemed serious and grumpy, he was very professional and a delight to work with. 

Throughout the sessions, Baekhyun had been subtly flirting with me. At one point, when I was adjusting his microphone height, he stood very close to me and put his hand on top of mine as I held the stand steady.

"Shhh, what are you doing?!" I giggled in hushed tones as I pulled my hand away from him.

"Just helping you..." he replied cheekily.

He knew what he was doing. He wasn't as innocent as he seemed.

After Baekhyun and Kyungsoo had finished their vocals, a car came to pick them up and take them home. Wae, MQ and I stayed behind with Tan to finalised some of the audio that had been recorded.

As I was packing up some of the equipment, I noticed that Kyungsoo had left his scarf behind. _A perfect excuse..._

"Tan...," I called, "Kyungsoo has left his scarf here."

"That's fine, put it there and I will take it to him later," he replied, pointing to the table besides him. I knew he was far too busy to have time to drop off a stupid scarf.

"Well, considering my job role is to support with whatever you need, maybe I can drop the scarf off at Kyungsoo's apartment on my way home? I mean, I'm not doing anything else other than watch you guys edit..." I uttered sweetly. 

Tan looked at me pensively and then studied his watch. I could see the cogs ticking in his brain. _Could he trust me with their address? Of course he could!_

"Ok, if you wouldn't mind? We've still got lots of work to do and I could do without going to the other side of the city tonight." He looked at Wae. "Would that be ok?"

"I don't see why it would be a problem," Wae replied as he nodded his head and took a sip of his water. "That's what she is here for."

I smiled politely but inside, I was secretly jumping up and down because now I had an excuse to see _The Idiot._

I couldn't believe that I was feeling this way. I had to keep my feelings under wraps: no one could know about this. Everyone needs to think I despise him. I needed to convince _myself_ that I despise him. _Stupid Idiot._

Saying goodbye to everyone, I scooped up the scarf and hurried downstairs to my car, smiling to myself. I could barely remember the location of their apartment but I managed to find it using Tan's instructions, parking on the street just outside of their building. I kept telling myself that I wasn't being ridiculous for coming here, after all, Kyungsoo had left his scarf and I was being helpful by returning it. It was my job to help Tan out. I wasn't here to see Chanyeol...

I took a deep breath as I walked through the entrance and climbed up the stairs to the apartment. I knocked the door and waited for an answer. _You really don't need_ _to return_ _Kyungsoo's_ _scarf_ _; Tan could have just given it to him the next time they met_ _. You're just using this as an excuse to see..._

Junmyeon answered the door.

"Oh, hello," he said as he bowed his head to me politely. I snapped out my own thoughts and politely smiled to him.

"I hope you don't mind but Kyungsoo left his scarf in the studio earlier. Tan asked me to return it to him, in case he needed it."

I could hear the sound of chopsticks in the background: they were obviously eating. _Maybe this wasn't the best time to be dropping round a scarf..._

"Ah, thank you, that's so thoughtful to come all the way here..."

It was awkward I didn't know what else to say.

"Who's here?" came the deep voice of Chanyeol as he shouted to Junmyeon, who looked at me sheepishly. He knew something was going on.

"Would you like to come in?" Junmyeon asked. I could tell he was only saying it to be polite. I tried to discreetly lean around him to catch Chanyeol's eye but I couldn't. It was ridiculous to even turning up at their apartment anyway...

"Erm, no, it's fine," I replied as shuffled my feet, trying not to seem awkward. Now that I was actually at their apartment, I felt like I was overstepping boundaries by being there. _Maybe it is best if I just leave?_

Obviously, the universe had different plans for me because Sehun had waltzed over to the door to see who Junmyeon was talking to.

"Oh, it's _you,"_ Sehun said with a mixture of shock and excitement. I could see what was running through his mind. Before I had chance to say goodbye and leave abruptly, Sehun flung the door open, revealing me to the boys.

"Look who it is everyone!" he said as he grabbed my wrist and playfully pulled my inside their apartment. All eyes were on me and I could feel the flush rushing to my cheeks as I didn't know where to look. They were sat, scattered across the living room eating noodles. I clocked Chanyeol as he sat on the floor almost scowling.

"Hi, everyone," I said with a feeble wave and a nervous voice. I wanted the ground to swallow me up there and then. "Tan asked me to return Kyungsoo's scarf that he left it the studio. They're still busy with the recording so...," I said.

"That's so thoughtful of you," said Sehun with a sarcastic lilt. He could tell that was _not_ the reason why I was here. 

"Thank you," said Kyungsoo as he came over to me and took the scarf from me.

No one said anything and half of them kept eating. I didn't dare look Chanyeol in the eyes.

"Are you sure you won't stay for some food?" Junmyeon asked. He was only trying to be polite.

"No, honestly, I need to get home. Chae has cooked dinner for us." _Since when did Chae ever cook?!_

"Ah, tell her I said hi!" Jongin said with a mouthful of noodles, smiling at me sneakily. Jongdae elbowed him and he fell about the floor laughing.

"You can tell her that we are looking forwards to movie night!" Minseok called over to me.

"Movie night?" I heard Chanyeol question Minseok.

"Aren't you coming? Chae and Jongin are hosting it at Chae's house. We're going to watch horror films!" Minseok was getting excited as he jumped up on the couch and widened his eyes, poking at Yixing, who was sat looking scared.

"It sounds ridiculous. I hate horror films," Chanyeol sharply said. _Now was my chance._

"No one is asking you to come," I said quietly under my breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. The room was silent.

"No one asked for your opinion," he bit back.

_Is that how you're going to play this, Chanyeol?!_

I rolled my eyes at him was about to say something about how annoying I found him but Junmyeon intervened.

"Thank you for the scarf," Junmyeon interrupted, trying to break the tension. I could tell he was trying to calm the situation down.

"You're welcome. I'll see you on Friday then?" I said as I bid them farewell. "Minseok, we've got some really scary films, it's going to be so exciting and fun! We will have _the best_ time! It would be _ridiculous_ to not want to watch them..." When I spoke, I made sure that I sounded as sarcastic as possible, directing it at Chanyeol. I knew he was about to react and say something back but I quickly thanked Junmyeon for inviting me in and made an excuse to leave. 

* * * 

The week passed quickly as we were busy in the studio with both editing and cutting the recordings that had already been done. The boys weren't needed on Thursday and Friday and it had driven me absolutely insane that I hadn't seen Chanyeol. Every time I thought of him, I would dig my nails into the palm of my hands, hoping that would stop me from wanting him. It didn't work. By Friday afternoon, I was so ridiculously excited to go home and prepare for movie night. I had picked out what I was going to wear and I had a plan: to create so much tension between Chanyeol and I that he would have to come and teach me a lesson. I smiled too myself and bit my lip as I signed out of the building and skipped to my car. 


	10. Chapter 10

"So, let me get this straight: you're wearing black jogging bottoms and a tight, low cut white v-neck shirt? Who are you trying to impress?"

Chae nudged me as we sat on her bed. She was putting on makeup ready for when Jongin and his friends came over for movie night. _Obviously_ I had made an effort: Chanyeol needed to know what he was missing. I wasn't going to outwardly dress to impress but I wanted him to notice me.

"All of them, actually. They're clients at work. I want them to think that I'm presentable and not a slob at home," I replied with an air of snootiness.

Chae tutted at me. I wasn't making this easy for her. She wasn't going to find out about my growing feelings for Chanyeol.

"Which films shall we put on? Have you got any scary jump ones? I want to be frightened so Jongin has to protect me!"

"How did I know you'd say that?! Chae you're so predictable! But yes, we can watch 'Gonjiam Haunted Asylum". It's apparently very scary! I'm sure Jongin will appreciate you jumping on his lap all night..."

"Ah! I'm so excited. Maybe you can jump on Baekhyun's lap?!" She winked at me. _More like jump on Chanyeol's lap..._

"No. He is my client. No laps will be sat on. Are we ordering food?" I asked her as I stood up, trying to move on from the Baekhyun conversation and walked into the kitchen. Chae followed behind me like an excited puppy.

"Yes! Pizza. When they get here, we can discuss what we want. Not everyone loves pineapple on pizza like you..." She paused as she walked over to the cupboard and pulled out some bags of food. "I have bought some snacks and beers, can you help me put them out ready?"

I nodded and headed towards to the fridge to get the beers out. I stopped as eyed up the ridiculous amount of alcohol in the fridge.

"Ermm... there are probably 100 bottles of beer here, who is going to drink all of that?!"

"They are. And us!"

_Begin Phase One of Operation: Despise Chanyeol..._

"Don't tell me they are _all_ coming?"

"Yes, why?"

I paused and frowned, trying to get the dissatisfied look on point.

"Urgh, it's going to be awkward with Chanyeol. He's been really funny with me in the studio, treating me as if I am his slave. He is always acting grumpy and difficult. I was kinda hoping he would stay at home..."

"Just ignore him then if you don't want to spend time with him! I couldn't tell Jongin not to invite him; that would be rude."

"I suppose I can hang out with Minseok and Junmyeon..."

"Ahh and Baekhyun," Chae began as we placed the snacks on the table. "I've sort of... told Jongin that you like him. And... Jongin might have sort of told Baekhyun...!" She began to giggle. My eyes grew wide. I was completely thrown by this. _No wonder Baekhyun has been flirting with me in the studio..._

"Oh my _god,_ why did you do that?! He's going to want to flirt with me, Chae! I can't do that, he is a client!"

"Oh lighten up, he's only a client when you're in the office. Are you there tonight? No, you're at home. So have a bit of fun with him!"

I was about to dive into a rant about how I didn't need a man to have fun but the doorbell rang. Chae answered the door; it was EXO.

Immediately, Jongin walked over and hugged Chae so I was left to welcome our visitors. Minseok walked in and was immediately excited by watching horror movies.

"When are we watching the films?!" he asked as he came over to me.

"I've got 'Gonjiam Haunted Asylum' for us to watch, it's supposed to be really scary," I replied to Minseok as I grabbed the film from the side and showed him. His eyes grew wide as he looked excited.

"It's suppose to be really boring," came the droll voice of Chanyeol as he slowly walked in. Immediately, my eyes were drawn to him. As he casually strolled into our apartment, it was like time had stopped: he was dressed in shorts that showed off his toned legs; a blue sweater draped across his broad shoulders; his blonde hair was swept off his face, exposing his fresh undercut. His wide ears and puppy-dog eyes made him look annoyingly cute. I couldn't help but stare at him because he looked gorgeous. He glanced straight at me and I could feel the tension flowing through my veins. I absolutely hated him for making me feel this way. _Idiot._

_"Mmm, Chanyeol, that feels so good.."_

_"Do you like that, baby? Does that feel good?"_

He snapped his fingers at me.

"Why do you always zone out when I'm talking to you?" Chanyeol asked as he towered over me. I could see that Minseok, Junmyeon and Jongdae were watching us as they entered the apartment. Sehun pushed past and began helping himself to snacks already.

"Oh leave her alone," Minseok said as he grabbed my hand and took me over to the sofa. "You're always being so snappy to her, Loey." Chanyeol opened his mouth wide, pretending to be shocked so I rolled my eyes at him and followed Minseok over to the couch.

"Come on, let's put the film on!" Sehun scoffed as he waltzed over to us, his mouth full of crunchy snacks.

"Are we not ordering pizza?" Jongdae asked as he took a sip of his beer that Yixing had passed him.

"Why are you always thinking of food?" Baekhyun asked as he laughed at his friend.

Whilst everyone settled down, I tried to keep my eyes from Chanyeol. I watched him in the corner of my eye as he went and took a beer from the kitchen. He was talking to Jongin, Chae and Junmyeon. Minseok was saying something to me about horror films.

"So I think that one is just really scary and we should probably watch it after..." Minseok said as he sat upright on the couch.

"Mmhmm," I replied. I was still staring at Chanyeol as he sipped his beer and laughed along with Jongin. I studied how he held the bottle in his masculine hands, watching intently how he brought it slowly up to his plump lips, swallowing slowly.

"It is so interesting how they make it look real!"

"Mmhmm,"

"Do you think ghosts exist?"

"Mhmm..." I took a sip of my beer, eyes still fixed upon him.

He locked eyes with me. I was so shocked that I coughed and sprayed beer all over poor Kyungsoo as he was sat on the floor.

"Oh my god, I am _so_ sorry!" Immediately, I stood up and began wiping at Kyungsoo's shirt with my hands. "This is so embarrasing," I frantically cried at him, hands pawing at his chest.

"Don't worry," Jongdae said as he started laughing, "Kyungsoo won't admit it but he likes having women touch him like that..."

"Hey, I do not!" Kyungsoo protested. He picked up a cushion from the sofa behind him and chucked it at Jongdae.

"Stop giving her ideas," Baekhyun protested as he winked at me.

"I am so sorry, let me just go and fetch a towel from the kitchen."

I stood up and rushed into the kitchen. Chanyeol was stood in front of the drawer where the towels were kept.

"Excuse me," I said as I approached him and gently pushed his arm out of the way but hard enough so it would annoy him.

"Aiiiish, don't push me out of the way! Ask first, it's polite," he said as he lifted his arm up in protest. Chanyeol then lightly pushed me back.

I couldn't believe he had actually retaliated.

"Urgh, just move dickhead. I need to get something."

He leaned back against the cupboard and crossed his arms.

"We all know what you want to get..." he winked.

"Oh shut up, I want to get a towel."

"A towel, _riiiight!"_ he took a sip of his beer. "I'll tell Baekhyun you want a towel, not him."

_Oh god. Has Jongin told him that I like Baekhyun? This is ruining my plan!!_

"Baekhyun isn't going to help me clean Kyungsoo up, is he? That's why I need a towel. Stop being difficult and move so I can get one. Please."

Chanyeol held his hands up again and moved so I could get a towel from the drawer. I found one and slammed the door shut, making it obvious that he was annoying me. As I walked back into the living area, I could hear Jongin and Chanyeol whispering.

"Don't be such a rascal," Jongin said to Chanyeol.

"I can't help it, she is so annoying."

"Just be nice, Channy. She is my room mate. Don't make things awkward, we want to have a nice night."

I gave the towel to Kyungsoo and sat down, red-faced as I watched him dab the beer from his shirt.

"What was going on over there?" Sehun asked me. He had been watching the incident unfold with curiosity. I hoped he wasn't starting to unravel what was happening.

"Chanyeol was being difficult, as usual.."

Sehun sipped his beer and casually reclined on the chair, "I don't know why you don't just..."

"Let's order!" interrupted Junmyeon. _Thank God for Junmyeon._

"I know but I was just saying..." began Sehun again.

"Well don't say anything because it's pizza time!" Junmyeon gently said to Sehun, who rolled his eyes.

Jongdae called Jongin, Chanyeol and Chae over from the kitchen to discuss was pizzas would be ordered. There were some disagreements, especially as Minseok wanted a spicy pizza but Sehun wanted a plain cheese one. We settled on what we wanted and after half an hour, the pizzas were delivered. Chae put on the first of our horror films and we all sat there stuffing our faces whilst watching the film. Baekhyun was slowly creeping over from his side of the couch to me and I could feel his legs brush against mine. It was exhilarating but I shifted my weight onto my side so that I wasn't touching him. I didn't see how it was fair to be leading him on when I was more interested in that stupid idiot. The idiot was sat on the couch to my left in-between Junmyeon and Sehun. Sehun kept playing with Chanyeol's hair and Chanyeol kept swatting him off. They were annoying me. _Why did they have to act like babies?_

There was a jump scare and Yixing spilt his beer because he was so frightened. We all laughed at him. Baekhyun found this to be a great opportunity to move closer to me and rest his arm on the top of the couch behind me. I knocked back the rest of my beer and quietly got up to fetch another one from the kitchen. Jongdae and Kyungsoo held their empty bottles up to me and I brought them a fresh beer over. As I sat down, Baekhyun moved closer again. I felt slightly uncomfortable as I wriggled and looked over at the two babies fussing with each other on the couch. Chanyeol knew I was looking at him as he glanced over at me and mouthed 'what' as if he didn't want me to stare. I frowned at him and tutted. _How dare he be so rude._ He picked up a cushion and threw it at me: it landed on Baekhyun.

"YEOL!" Baekhyun screamed loudly, causing me to wince.

"Shhhhh!!!!" came the unimpressed voice of Minseok who was trying to watch the film.

I could hear Jongdae munching on his pizza and Baekhyun leant over to me, whispering in my ear softly.

"If you're scared, you can come and snuggle with me...?"

_Eeeeeeeeeeeek_ _._ _This was starting to feel awkward._

"Actually, can you excuse me? I need to use the bathroom."

I had to think of an excuse to leave. It wouldn't be fair to snuggle up to Baekhyun with these thoughts of the idiot floating around in my head. Plus it was unprofessional.

As I scrambled to the bathroom, the three beers I had drunk were already beginning to cloud my inhibitions as I stumbled and locked the door. Studying myself in the mirror, I wondered why I was acting so stupid. All I could think of was that night when I went back with Chanyeol and he had slowly walked over to me as I lay on his bed. Picturing him taking his shirt off to reveal his toned abs was making me feel really turned on. I bit my lip as I kept telling myself that I was being the idiot to be feeling like this. It was pointless: I couldn't stop myself. I splashed some water on my face and made sure that I looked presentable.

Chanyeol was stood there as I left the bathroom, blocking my exit. One arm was leaning up against the wall where the bathroom door was, exposing his muscly biceps. He had taken his hoody off to reveal a tight black t-shirt and he was really driving me insane with how hot he looked.

"Can I help you?" I said as I stared up at him.

"It depends: can you use the bathroom for me?" he jested as he winked at me. _Urgh. Being childish, as usual..._

"Erm... are you being serious?"

"Deadly."

I rolled my eyes at him and went to leave by walking around him through the hallway but he stopped me, putting his other hand against the wall. I was pinned there, staring up at him struggling to fight his hypnosis. His cologne filled my nostrils and I could hear him taking deep, slow breaths. Chanyeol bit his lip and sucked in the air through his teeth: my stomach tensed and I clenched my thighs as I desperately tried _not_ to be turned on by him. He bent down and leant his head forwards so his lips were nearly touching my ear.

"In the end, you cant reject me...."

I didn't say anything. Instead, I stared at him like I had just seen a ghost. _What had he just said to me?! He is so full of himself to think I even wanted him..._

All of a sudden, Chanyeol turned his head as there was a noise of footsteps in the hallway. Sehun was standing at the top of the hallway as he stopped and glared at us with wide, curious eyes and a smirk on his face to match.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see that!" Sehun gasped as he stared at us.

"See what?" Chanyeol said as he unpinned me from the wall, shrugged his shoulders and walked back out to the kitchen, swerving past Sehun. As I held Sehun's gaze, I knew he had put more pieces of this puzzle together than I'd have liked. Sehun knew there was something going on.

"Junmeyon!!!" Sehun shouted over his shoulder. 

"NO!" I yelled as I scurried up towards Sehun and put my hands across his mouth to shush him. He pulled away from me and bent over, giggling.

"Why are you shouting for Junmyeon?! There's nothing to tell him!" I protested as I bent down to Sehun, who was still laughing to himself.

Junmyeon came round the corner and saw Sehun laughing.

"What's the problem?" he asked as he looked quizzically at the maknae and then at me.

"He thinks it's funny to scare me when I'm in the bathroom," I lied as I flashed a look at Junmyeon, hoping he understood me.

"No!" Sehun protested. "She's lying! Chanyeol had her..."

"Ahhh, Sehun-ah! Stop scaring the poor girl in her own home!" Junmyeon replied as he put his arm around Sehun, who looked utterly confused.

"She's the one who scared _me!"_ Sehun spat as he pointed at me with shock. "He had her pinned up..."

"Shhh!" Junmyeon urged him. "You didn't see anything." It shut Sehun up quickly and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Don't you say anything," I began. "That idiot is the one who you need to say something to. Does he do that to every girl he meets? He's disgusting."

"Oh, so you're not, _you know..."_

"Ew no! I couldn't think of anyone I _worse_ to date. He is a childish baby. No thanks..."

Sehun scratched his head and walked off. Junmyeon stood and looked at me.

"You need to be more careful."

"Don't tell me, tell that idiot who surprised me when I came out of the bathroom."

"I think I need to have a word with him..."

We went back into the living room where the film had nearly finished. Chanyeol was sprawled across the sofa, his head now on Baekhyun's lap. I didn't know where to sit.

"Here, sit in between us," Baekhyun sweetly said as he pushed Chanyeol off him, making the tall oaf flail as he tried to sit upright.

"No! I was comfortable!" sulked Chanyeol as Bakehyun took my hand in his and pulled me gently into his arms. Chanyeol flashed a glare at me as I settled into a cuddle with Baekhyun. We were both a bit drunk so I didn't think about the professional consequences of my actions.

"Oooooooh!" mocked Chanyeol as he stuck his tongue out at us. "Love birds!"

"Shhhhh!!!" Minseok shushed Chanyeol with an angry frown. Chanyeol huffed and tipped back the rest of his beer.

Baekhyun was very protective and he held me close. I even pretended to be scared of a certain part in the film so I could snuggle closer into him. By the time the film had ended, I noticed that Jongin and Chae had disappeared; Yixing, Sehun and Jongdae were fast asleep on each other; Minseok was wide awake flicking through other films with Junmyeon and Baekhyun was slowly drifting off to sleep next to me. Silently, I unwrapped myself from Bakehyun. He stirred slightly but then carried on sleeping.

"Where are you going?! Aren't we going to watch the asylum film?!" Minseok asked with a pleading glance.

"Yes, definitely! But first I need to get another beer and go to the bathroom!" I hiccuped as I drunkenly staggered away from them.

First, I checked in the kitchen. _Nope, not there._  
Then, I checked in the bathroom. _Nope._  
I pressed my ear to Chae's door and I could hear the bed squeaking and moaning. _Ooops._

I flung open my bedroom door and saw him: he was fast asleep on my bed, the covers untouched as if he didn't want to spoil my made bed. His naked arm was hanging limp over the side and his Rolex had slipped to the bottom of his wrist. I didn't say anything as I crawled onto of the bed and nestled close to him. He smelt so divine and I rested my head on his chest, the sensation of his deep breathing gently rocking me up and down. He was fast asleep but reacted to me snuggling up to him. Chanyeol brought his hand onto my waist as he held me whilst we both fell fast asleep. 


	11. Chapter 11

The door creaked and my eyes jolted open. It took me a split second to realise what was happening. I could make out Junmyeon peering around the corner of the door, eyes squinting as he tried to identify what was going on in my bedroom. For the second time in the space of a few weeks, I had woken up next to Chanyeol. I clenched my jaw as I realised that he was in my bed, his arm draped over me. Eyes still groggy from slumber, Chanyeol looked at me sleepily and slightly confused. All of a sudden, he understood what was going on and he leapt off the bed, smoothing his clothes down, eyes flitting between me and Junmyeon.

"Your glasses are there," I said as I pointed at the nightstand as I sat upright and curled my arms under my knees. He quickly fetched them and put them on, adjusting them clumsily.

"It's not what you think, Hyung," Chanyeol muttered to Junmyeon as he stood there like a dummy, running his hands through his hair.

"Shh, keep your voice down," Junmyeon replied as he crept in and shut the door behind him, careful not to make a noise. "Minseok is still awake, he might hear us. He can't know you're in here because he _will_ figure things out. You know what he is like..."

"Where does he think I've been for whole night? Sleeping in the bath for 6 hours?" Chanyeol asked as he titled his head sideways. I rested my chin on my knees as I listened to them, gazing at Chanyeol's messy bed hair.

"Loey, you've been asleep for an hour at most. No one knows you're in here because they're asleep themselves or have been too engrossed in the film to care. That's why I've come to get you. We need to go and wake the others up and go home: it's passed midnight!"

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as if I'd just been on a rollercoaster. _No, I don't leave. I want to carry on snuggling next to him, the smell of his Acqua Di Parma cologne gently comforting me as his soft breathing tickles my ears._

"I'll see you out," I replied as I began to stand up. I couldn't show that I was sad he was leaving. They both looked at me and nodded. Junmyeon opened the door and was surprised when he saw Minseok stood there, staring at him.

"Hey! What are you all doing in there? Are you guys having a secret tryst that no one knows about? You know I'm very open minded if you want an extra pair of...hands," Minseok winked and bit his lip. _Wow is he being serious?!_

"You're too much, Hyung!" Junmyeon said as he elbowed his friend playfully. "No, we were just looking at the..."

"At the records I've worked on!" I interrupted as I reached over to the collection of CDs on the shelf.

"Yes, she's worked with so many cool international bands, Baozi," Chanyeol chimed in with his deep dulcet tones. He looked at me, warmth radiating from his glance. I could tell he was enjoying sleeping on my bed.

"Fortunately, none of them had Chanyeol as a member," I pursed my lips and folded my arms. It was still important I kept up with Operation Despise Chanyeol in front of Minseok.

"Hey!" Chanyeol reacted, pulling a sad face and looking down.

"Chanyeol fell asleep on the toilet. That's why he missed the film," I said to Minseok, looking smug that I had created such a ridiculous lie to cover for Chanyeol sleeping in my bed.

Minseok burst out laughing.

"I wondered where you had gone! Awww, you fell asleep on the _toilet!_ You big softie!"

Minseok went up to Chanyeol and reached up to ruffle his hair. Chanyeol swerved away from him and this caused him to knock into me. The impact nearly sent me flying backwards into the records but Chanyeol grabbed my waist and pulled me up. His eyes caught mine and for a moment, my world was on fire as I felt the magnetic pull between us. Junmyeon coughed as if to warn us that we were being obvious so Chanyeol let go of me: I nearly toppled over but Minseok caught me instead.

"You've had too much to drink, madam!" he said as he brought his forehead close to mine. I could see into his mesmerising eyes: Minseok was extremely charming.

"So have you!" Chanyeol said as he grabbed Minseok by the waist and nearly tackled him to the floor.

"Boys!" came the authoritative voice of Junmyeon. "Stop playing, we need to wake everyone up because we've got to go home and sleep in our actual beds. Come on!"

Junmyeon ushered Chanyeol and Minseok out of my bedroom and went to wake up all of the others. I felt uncomfortable waking them up, so I stood in the corner of the kitchen, watching them all sleepily stretch and yawn. Baekhyun looked shocked to have fallen asleep and I could see his eyes searching for me as he slowly adjusted to a state of awakening. He came over to me.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep," he said as he nervously looked at me and then the floor.

"Don't be sorry, you're obviously in need of some rest. Go home and sleep. We can see each other soon enough at the studio." I was trying my hardest not to lead him on but it was very difficult as he was so polite and lovely.

Baekhyun hugged me tightly, his hands around my waist. In response, I hugged him back as I didn't want to be rude. My hands gripped onto his arms and I rested my chin on his shoulder: I was careful not to be too provocative. Just at that moment, I caught Chanyeol looking over to us, a scowl clouding his face. He turned away quickly and began talking to Sehun who shot me a disapproving look.

"I'll see you soon," Baekhyun quietly whispered as he gently pulled away. "Take care."

"You too," I replied, smiling.

Junmyeon made sure everyone, except from Jongin, left the building quietly and with all of their belongings. I hovered next to the door like I was trying to be a good host. They all thanked me for the movie night and left.

"Take care and thank you for the evening. We should do it again some time," Junmyeon uttered as he bowed to me. He was very friendly and polite. I wished him a good evening and shut the door behind me. Feeling sleepy, I began walking back to my bedroom when the door was pushed wide open.

Chanyeol thundered in, a look of sheer determination on his face.

"I left my hat," he said as he stomped over to the couch and grabbed his beanie with his big, manly hands. The silver rings that adorned his fingers glistened in the light of the lamp.

"You would forget something, wouldn't you?" I teased as I watched him, the sight of his long fingers wrapping around the woollen hat making my toes curl as I remembered what he had done with those fingers. The room was thick with tension and I found my self struggling to breath as he stood there and glared at me.

"Bye then?" I pointed to the door to encourage him to leave.

"Is that it?"

"Junmyeon wants you to go home."

"What if I didn't want to go home?"

I looked at the floor, embarrassed by what he was trying to imply. _I don't want you to go home either._

"You have no choice, you need to do what Junmyeon says. He is your leader, isn't he? Or whatever you boybands have. I don't know..."

" _You_ have a choice..."

Chanyeol began edging closer to me, his fingers knotting the beanie in his hands nervously.

"Stop," I protested weakly. I wasn't protesting at all. I was desperate to touch him.

He stopped in the centre of the room. _What a tease._

"Do you really want me to stop?"

 _Shit._ I swallowed thickly as I could feel my blood pressure rising.

"We work together, we need to remain professional."

"Fine, if that's how you feel." He paused and looked, a sudden sadness clouding his eyes. "I'm not sure how that logic works considering all you've done is flirt with Baekhyun. Hardly professional, is it?"

His gaze shifted and he took a deep breath to convey his emotion, running his hands through is hair.

"Chanyeol, what are you talking about?" I tried to act blasé about it but I understood what he was getting at. 

"Actually, you don't need to say anything. I could see it in your eyes when you hugged him. You're into him."

"That's not what is going on and you know it," I abruptly snapped.

He uttered a sarcastic laugh and shook his head, walking off. 

"Good night," he said as he made a beeline for the door. I was frozen to the spot and couldn't move. All I wanted to do was run over to the door and stop him from leaving but I was too terrified of what doing the wrong thing.

"Chanyeol, please..."

I didn't get the chance to ask him to stay because he left, shutting the door angrily as he walked out. Letting out a deep sigh, I draped myself over the kitchen counter feeling miserable. _Why is this so complicated?_

"Are you ok?" came the voice of Jongin as he stood in a t shirt and shorts, staring at me. I jolted upright and looked at him with wide eyes and my mouth slightly open.

"Did you see that?" I asked with a panic stricken look.

Jongin nodded in a nonchalent way. 

"Shit," I whispered as I put my head in my hands. "It's not what you think it is."

"I take it you like Chanyeol?" Jongin asked me casually as he approached the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewing the lid and taking a sip.

"Jongin, you're jumping to conclusions," I tried to avoid his question. 

"Don't lie. Do you like him?" he asked again.

I looked away from him and studied the wooden pattern on the floor, slowly nodding to him.

"Aishhhh," Jongin replied. "You've got yourself into a mess here haven't you? What about Baekhyun... I thought you were into him?"

I swallowed an anxious gulp. 

"Well... I _did_ but... Chanyeol sort of..."

"Swept you off your feet with his goofy charms and handsome looks?"

"Jongin you cannot tell anyone, please! Promise me!" I almost jumped at him when I realised he knew what was going on. 

He looked at me and wrinkled his nose as if he was deep in thought. I decided to break the silence.

"Junmyeon is aware something is going on, ok? You can speak to him about it if you really must. But even Chanyeol doesn't know I officially _like_ him. So you cannot say anything."

"Chanyeol doesn't know you like him?" his eyes were wide with confusion. "So what was all of that drama for then? And how does Junmyeon know if Chanyeol doesn't?"

"It's complicated."

He shook his head and took another sip of his water. 

"Do you promise not to say anything?"

He nodded and crossed his arms, waiting impatiently to hear the story. 

"Baekhyun has been flirting with me since we met. I thought there was a spark between us but after we all went dancing a few weeks ago.." It was awkward to say it out loud. "After we went dancing, Chanyeol and I were drunk and we..."

Jongin put his hands to his mouth in shock and he made a squealing sound. 

"DON'T you'll wake Chae up! She can't know."

"So you slept together yet you're not sure he knows you like him? Do you not know Park Chanyeol?! He is probably desperate for your attention. He is like a little puppy that needs to be loved. You have to say something to him."

_Was Jongin right? Should I say something to him?_

"No. I can't. We work together. It's unprofessional."

"You can't keep stringing him along, that will just hurt him. Surely you want to tell him? Don't you want to be with him?"

I didn't even have to think about my answer. 

"Yes."

"Well you know what to do then. You need to tell him."

"I can't, it's too hard."

Jongin walked over to me and put his arm around me. 

"You have to tell him, otherwise I will. He is one of my best friends and I don't want to see him hurt. What's the worst that could happen?"


	12. Chapter 12

I didn't sleep very well all weekend. Chanyeol was constantly on my mind. After Jongin had left, Chae asked me what was wrong but I told her that I was just feeling tired and had a headache. She seemed suspicious but I was sure that Jongin hadn't said anything to her. Going to work on Monday worried me. There were two weeks of recording left with EXO. Half of the work was done and things were starting to come together nicely. Monday's recording session was with Chanyeol, Junmyeon and Jongin: _because that wouldn't be awkward..._

Monday morning came and I was sat at my desk when they all came in with Tan. I couldn't look any of them in the eyes but I had to remain professional. Forcing a smile, I bid them all good morning and watched the boys sit down on the couch. Junymeon was his usual polite self, engaging with conversation as he asked how everyone was. Jongin sat smiling, pretending there was no underlying drama. On the other hand, the situation was written all over Chanyeol's face. He pulled his beanie over down over his brows and I could tell he was sulking. In fact, he carried on sulking all through the day; only behaving when he was recording his rapping and singing.

At lunch time, Wae had asked me to grab some food for everyone as they were busy and needed to carry on recording. Junmyeon and Jongin were sat down on the couch, playing games on their phones. Chanyeol was slouched over his laptop ignoring everyone.

"Boys, would you like me to fetch you some food?" I asked them. The air was thick with tension and I could tell that Jongin and Junmyeon were thinking about the ridiculous situation.

"I'll have the same as Tan please," Junmyeon answered.

"Me too," Jongin replied.

There was another silence as Chanyeol didn't reply. I knew I had to break the ice and ask him: it would be rude if I didn't.

"Chanyeol, what do you want?"

He looked up at me and frowned.

"Nothing," he bluntly replied.

I rolled my eyes at him. _Why is he being like this?_

"Fine," I snapped as I grabbed my coat and left. I wasn't going to pander to his sulk.

When I came back with lunch, QM was not impressed that I hadn't brought anything back for Chanyeol.

"He said he didn't want anything," I explained as I placed the sandwiches down on the table for everyone.

"You should have got him something," QM snapped angrily at me. He was clearly stressed with the recording and was taking it out on me.

"Why didn't you think of just picking up something extra? I swear your head is not in the game today. You really need to get with the programme because it's stressing us all out."

I clenched my jaw together to try and dissipate the anger that was building up inside of me. _Great, Chanyeol was getting me into trouble with my boss now._

"I'll go out and fetch some fried chicken. It's not a problem." I glared at Chanyeol who was still sat at his laptop.

"No. I said I don't want anything," he snapped, eyes still fixed to the screen.

The room was quiet as everyone started to feel awkward. I looked at QM and shrugged.

"See." I sucked my teeth at Chanyeol, pointing at him but instantly regretted doing so in front of my boss.

"Don't be so rude!" QM shouted at me. He hadn't shouted at me before. Ever. It shocked me so I slunk back into the shadows, backing slowly up to the wall.

"Actually, get your stuff and work from home. Your negative energy is disruptive and unprofessional." He looked at Tan and EXO. "I deeply apologise for her behaviour. She's never like this."

He scowled at me and I was so embarrassed that I looked straight at the floor, nervously fiddling with the sleeve of my jumper.

Tan, Wae and QM took their lunch into the meeting room, leaving me to pack up my things with EXO gawping at me. I was struggling to hold back my emotions but I bit my lip as I scooped up my MacBook and coat. I didn't want to burst into tears in front of them: especially the Idiot, Chanyeol. Without saying goodbye, I left the room and began to sulk off down the corridor. As I reached the top of the stairs, I stopped because I heard the door creak as someone caught up behind me. It was Jongin.

"Hey, wait!" he shouted breathlessly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen," I apologised.

"I take it you've not said anything to him then?" he asked curiously.

"Of course I haven't. What am I supposed to say to him when he's in this mood?"

"Just tell him you like him."

"No. It's unprofessional and how would that look on top of what's just happened. Anyway. I don't even know him. We've never had a proper conversation. It's never going to work. So let's just drop it, ok?"

A sly smile drew across Jongin's face.

"Well, you know him well enough to have slept with him."

"SHHHHHHHHHH!" I loudly hissed in Jongin's face. "I told you not to say anything! If QM hears you, considering the mood he is in, he will fire me on the spot for messing around with one of our clients. Do you want me to be jobless?"

"You need to say something soon because he is in a foul mood and it's bringing everyone down."

"Jongin, please. I'll tell him when the moment is right. Now is not the right moment."

"If that's what you think. But you have to do it soon. Don't keep him in the dark. Anyway, I best get back inside. Take care," he replied as he sighed at me, turning on his heels to head back into the studio.

Miserably, I stormed off to my car. I spent the rest of the day in my apartment alone because Chae was at work. No one called me. No one showed up and I went to bed on an empty stomach, feeling conflicted and angry. I knew I had to say something to Chanyeol. _But when is the right moment?_

* * *   
The first thing I did upon getting into work was apologise to QM and Wae. I explained that I wasn't thinking properly, hoping that they would understand.

"It is probably best that you say sorry to Park Chanyeol. He was very offended by your behaviour yesterday, you know. Although it will be quite difficult because we have all 9 of them in today."

_Wonderful. All 9 of them are going to be present to witness me grovelling to him._

The thought of every member of EXO being there filled me with dread. How much did they know? Surely no secrets would have escaped from Junmyeon's lips but I wasn't too sure about Jongin. Would things be awkward as Baekhyun would be there?

The whole situation was trouble. I didn't have much time to think about it though because as soon as I had settled myself at my desk the door opened and they all flooded in. Junmyeon, Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, Yixing, Sehun, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and finally Chanyeol.

"So you're telling me that I can't hum _and_ hold my nose?!" Yixing said full of wonder.

"How did you not know that?!" Kyungsoo scoffed as he smacked Yixing on the arm.

Sehun scooped Kyungsoo up and squeezed him tightly.

"Stop being a little bitch," Sehun giggled as he planted a kiss on the top of Kyungsoo's head. In response, Kyungsoo wrinkled his face.

"Urgh, get off!"

Wae greeted everyone and explained what the schedule for the day was. I was still sat at my desk, pretending to be oblivious to them walking in. I really didn't want to make eye contact with any of them. Especially not Chanyeol.

"Goooood morning, lovely," came the sing-song voice of Baekhyun as he perched on my desk, smiling widely at me and blinking slowly, showing off his beautiful eyes. My heart sunk as I realised he was still trying to flirt with me.

I weakly smiled back at him.

"Shhh, don't say such things in front of my bosses - they'll think something is going on between us."

Baekhyun looked slightly upset at my words. I felt bad for being so blunt but it had to be done. From the corner of my eye, I could see Chanyeol looking over at us as he slouched down on the couch with Sehun. Sehun was also giving me the side-eyes. _Great. Two big babies judging me._

"I'm sorry," Baekhyun began as he stood up. "Have I offended you?"

I felt so guilty.

"No, you haven't. I'm sorry Baekhyun, it's just difficult with Wae and QM around. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Internally, I was facepalming. _Why had I just said that? I'd make it up to him? Now I was being the idiot._

"That sounds nice," he winked as he smiled and walked over to where Junmyeon and Jongdae were sitting, joining in their chatter.

Wae called my name and beckoned for me to come over into the studio with him.

"Can you track this in the booth, please?" he asked me as he was stood with Yixing.

"Yes, I'd be happy to" I replied as I bowed my head to Yixing. "I've not worked with Lay before so it will be a new experience."

"Oh, no," Wae interrupted me. "Not with Lay. We're doing Chanyeol's part. You'll have to sit next to him."

My heart almost stopped and my mouth went dry. I could feel the colour drain from my face as I realised I would have to sit next to Chanyeol in a room with my bosses. This was the worst case scenario.

"Is everything ok?" Tan asked as I stood staring at Wae like I had seen a ghost.

"Erm...I mean, yes! Yes, that will be fine."

Chanyeol came in and brushed past me, knocking me in the shoulder by accident on purpose. _What a git._ He went and sat down in the booth taking up all of the room on the table by draping himself over it. There was no room for me to put my MacBook down.

"Excuse me, I need to put this down," I said as I went to put my laptop on the table.

He slowly looked at me with side eyes and sighed, moving his arms into his lap. I sat down next to him, squashed into the small confines of the booth. There was hardly any room so his long legs were pushed right against mine: I could feel the warmth of his body and the smell of his Acqua Di Parma cologne. It took me right back to that night: thoughts of his soft kisses in the nape of my neck, placing his lips up and down until he found the sweet spot.

"Right, Chanyeol, can you begin?" QM said as he put his headphones on.

"You need to move so I can get past," Chanyeol uttered with mischief in his voice. As he stood up, his left hand brushed my inner thigh and his tongue slowly licked the corner of his mouth as he tried to climb over me. His crotch was dangerously close to my face and it took all of my self-discipline not to grab the waistband of his jeans and pull him into me.

He stood next to the mic and began to record his vocals. I was entranced by his rapping: his deep, mahogany voice starting off slowly, then picking up the pace. His rhythm was steady but seemed to increase, dipping and peaking. It was making me out of breath and I couldn't help but stare at him. He was on fire.

Chanyeol stopped his verse and caught me staring at him. I didn't even avert my gaze as I carried on looking into his dark eyes, hypnotised. He looked back at me and then his attention shifted to my lips and then back up to my eyes, biting his lip discreetly. _Fuck, you little tease._

"Hello? Can you PLEASE alter the channels?!" QM was shouting at me through the glass in the booth.

"I think that's your cue?" Chanyeol said with a slight laugh.

"Oh shit. Sorry!" I called as I snatched my gaze away from him and went back to my MacBook screen. I gave QM a thumbs up and he shook his head at me. The recording session was tense and Chanyeol started to turn the heat up with his flirtation. He pulled his sweater off but 'accidentally' pulled his t shirt up, revealing his toned stomach and the elastic of his boxers. He got in the habit of putting his bottle of water down next to my MacBook so he had to stretch over me every time he wanted a drink. As he did this, he would turn his head away from the others and look me in the eyes, whispering something ridiculous.

"Do you like working _hard_?" he asked slyly. I didn't have a clue how to respond.

"Ermmm...I like my job, yes," I tried to keep my composure but it was crumbling.

"Are you a hard worker? I'm a _hard_ worker, you know," he carried on.

I frowned at him playfully and he held his hands up. He was a terrible flirt.

As the session finished and the day ended, Minseok suggested to the others that they head out to a bar to celebrate with a drink. Tan agreed, as long as they didn't stay out late, even though they weren't needed to track vocals the following day.

"Keep a low profile," Tan reminded them.

"Why don't you and Chae come with us?" Minseok said as he flashed a suggestive look at me.

"Yes! That would be amazing!" Baekhyun chimed in as he raised his eyebrows at me.

"I'm not sure. You know, we're technically still working so..."

"It will be fun," Chanyeol interrupted as he brushed past me whilst fetching his coat.

"Chae and I were staying at home to watch a movie actually," Jongin said.

It would be awkward without Chae. I didn't want to be the only girl.

"But I suppose we can come out for a few drinks..." he said as he smiled.

"Okay, well why don't you and Chae come to our apartment and we can have a drink before we go out?" Minseok suggested.

"That way, you won't feel awkward because Chae will technically still be around, as well as the other members," Baekhyun added.

"But she will be around Jongin's member," Minseok winked as he reached over and squeezed Jongin's butt.

"Min-SEOK!" Jongdae let out a hearty laugh.

I thought about it. Maybe it would be a good time to speak to Chanyeol. If things didn't go to plan, I could just leave and pretend I was tired.

"Sure. What time?"

"8pm?" Minseok said.

"Great. I'll see you all then."

And with that, they left.


	13. Chapter 13

As predicted, I was left alone with the other boys within half an hour of arriving at their apartment. Chae and Jongin made themselves scarce and snuck off to Jongin's room to do only goodness knows what.

To say it was awkward was an understatement. I sat on their couch, nervously tapping my phone whilst staring at the floor. Minseok, Sehun and Baekhyun sat around me, staring and not saying anything: I felt like an animal in a zoo being watched.

"I'm sorry," began Junmyeon as he came over with a beer for me. "They're not normally so _rude_ staring at our guests!"

"We're not staring, we are just being friendly with her!" Baekhyun replied, winking at me.

"I think you're way past that stage, Baekie," Minseok purred suggestively at his hyung. Baekhyun slightly blushed and shoved Minseok in the shoulder, causing him to topple off the arm of the chair and onto the floor. Junmyeon put his hands in his head, obviously embarrassed by the actions of the two boys. Sehun rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer.

"What's going on?" came the deep, honey tones of Chanyeol as he waltzed into the room. For the millionth time, it was as if everything froze. My eyes wandered across his body: he wore tight black jeans, which were ripped at the knees, and a tight black t shirt that clung to his muscles. Instead of his usual beanie hat, Chanyeol had styled his blonde hair, showing off his undercut. He had his thick, silver Rolex Daytona watch perched elegantly on his sturdy wrist and a range of silver rings across his fingers. After drinking in his body, I looked into his eyes and was instantly bewitched by him.

"Loey!" Minseok squealed as he writhed around on the floor. "Save me from Baekie!"

Baekhyun was about to dive onto Minseok but when he saw Chanyeol come over, he smoothly sat down very close next to me. _Too close._

"Oh," Chanyeol said as he looked at me, trying hard to disguise the faint smile that was beginning to curl at the side of his lips. "You're here."

_Yes of course I'm bloody here, I was invited. Idiot._

"Hi," I replied. I didn't know what else to say without sounding stupid. He was making me lose all control of my senses with how delicious he looked. I carried on tapping my phone nervously, running my nails up and down like I was doing some ASMR.

"I see you have got yourself settled then. You've got a beer and you've got Baekhyun. Maybe we should just go out and leave you to it?" Chanyeol uttered sarcastically. He knew what he was doing: he was trying to wind me up about Baekhyun. Sehun nearly choked on his beer in response.

"I'm sure Baekhyun would agree we are looking forward to going out to a nice bar, actually. We've been cooped up in the studio so an evening out sounds pretty good." I said as I raised my brows to Chanyeol: _touché, idiot._

"Well, I mean if you want to stay..." began Baekhyun as he turned towards me.

"No! It's a good idea if we _all_ go out," Junmyeon interrupted. Thank God that Junmyeon was there to diffuse the situation. I couldn't imagine anything more awkward than staying behind with Baekhyun whilst thoughts of Chanyeol played through my head like a record stuck in a groove.

"What are we waiting for then?" Chanyeol said as he sat opposite me as he perched on the table. His legs were spread wide and he knitted his fingers together, playing with one of his rings in a way that was extremely suggestive. _Damn._

"Well let's finish our beers first," Sehun replied as he shook his beer in Chanyeol's face.

"Ahhh, you're no fun, Sehun-ah! Where's my beer?"

"Here," said Minseok as he scrambled up from the floor. "I'll get you one." Minseok walked over to kitchen to grab Chanyeol a beer as well as pour himself another glass of wine. He brought it over and handed it to Chanyeol and sat on the couch opposite.

"Do you like banging things?" Minseok asked me suggestively as he pointed at my phone.

"Pardon?" I bolted up right as I stared at Minseok. He looked so innocent but he clearly had a wild imagination and a dirty mind.

"You're tapping your phone case. Are you sexually frustrated?"

"Woahh, Baozi! How much wine have you had?!" Junmyeon interjected as he reached over to shush Minseok, who was flashing his eyebrows at me and pouting his lips. Sehun was trying really hard not to laugh and subsequently looked away from the group, crossing his legs as he giggled into his elbow. Chanyeol also thought it was hilarious but he couldn't hide his delight. The Idiot started clapping his hands loudly as he fell onto the floor.

"You can't just say that, Minseok!" He carried on clapping in between laughing bawdily. I didn't know where to look but fortunately Baekhyun stood up for me.

"That's so rude, Minseok and Chanyeol, trust you to be so _filthy,_ " he turned to me again, bring his face closer to mine as he whispered in my ear. "They're the ones who are probably sexually frustrated."

"I heard that!" Chanyeol shouted as he got up and grabbed onto Baekhyun clumsily. "You're the one who is sexually frustrated, look at the way you've got your hand next to her thigh!"

I looked down and saw Baekhyun's hand close to my leg and I instantly scooted away, back into the comfort of the couch. This was very awkward: _was Chanyeol being playful with Baekhyun or was he_ _being territorial_ _?_

"I'm not sexually frustrated. I'm actually quite _un-_ frustrated," Baekhyun boasted.

I knitted my eyebrows at him. _What_ _is he trying to imply?_ I was very confused.

"That's not even a word!" Chanyeol shouted as he began poking Baekhyun in the arm, acting rather over excited.

"Tell us more," Sehun brought his knees up to his chin and pretended to listen intently to Baekhyun.

"I'd rather not hear this!" Junmyeon replied, putting his hands to his ears.

Junmyeon looked at me and could tell I was feeling uncomfortable with all of their silly, salacious shouting.

"Awww, you're making her feel awkward. Boys, stop it," Minseok said as he came and put his arms around me.

"You're the one that started it!" Baekhyun said as he bent over to pick his drink up.

"That's enough. Come on, we're going!" Junmyeon ordered as he stood up. Everyone took a big slug of their drinks and began to get up, preparing to leave. "JONGIN. CHAE?"

As we stood up, Baekhyun put his arm on my back to help steady me and I twitched away from him, aware that Chanyeol was probably watching us.

"Are you ok?" Baekhyun asked me.

"Sorry, I'm fine, I'm just..."

"Sexually frustrated," Chanyeol interrupted as he elbowed me before walking off with Sehun, looking behind his shoulder and flashing his cheeky grin. _That little shit..._

"Oh ignore Chanyeol," Baekhyun said as we walked over towards the door. "Jongin tells me that he has got a secret crush so he's the one who is sexually frustrated."

I didn't have chance to reply as Chae came running behind me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I felt instantly relieved that she had appeared because it meant I wasn't left alone with these strange boys.

"Where is Kyungsoo?" asked Jongin as he appeared, looking smug as he fetched his jacket.

"He went out with Jongdae and Yixing," Junmyeon shouted as he stood by the door, ushering everyone outside. "They might meet us at the bar."

We all left the apartment and Junmyeon locked up. He insisted that Chae and I meet them at the bar separately just incase there was any unwanted attention from photographers or press. It was strange hearing him say that but I understood. The bar we were going to was supposed to cater for musicians and actors who wanted to be entertained without the stress of having ordinary citizens fuss over them. Chae and I sat in the back of our taxi gossiping about the famous actresses we might see.

Upon entering the bar, the atmosphere was very relaxed. It was a huge room with dark wall coverings, black velvet cushions on the chairs and candles everywhere. A huge candelabra hung from the ceiling, draped with black glass beads. There were lots of private booths and when we approached the front desk, the woman took our names and led us to where the boys where. My eyes wildly searched the room to see if I could spot anyone famous but instead, I spotted Chanyeol. _Out of the whole crowded room, why was he the one my gaze fixed upon?_

"Girrrllllllllsssss!" squealed Minseok, who was clearly quite drunk from his wine. "Come and sit _here_ ," he said as he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me down onto him. He smelt of wine and cologne as he turned his head to whisper in my ear.

"You look phenomenal tonight, maybe we..."

"BAOZI," Chaneyol shouted as he pulled me off Minseok. "Stop being so horny! Calm down!"

As Chanyeol pulled me into him, he lingered a bit _too_ long and held onto my wrist, squeezing it gently as if to tell me he knew what I was thinking. I was stood in-between his legs, my back pressed up against his front and I couldn't help but press my butt into his crotch to tease him. Chanyeol drew a quick breath through his teeth as he squeezed my wrist tighter.

"Excuse me," I said with a smirk, turning around to look him in the eyes. "I need to get past."

He was speechless and didn't say anything as I manoeuvred my way around the booth to sit in-between Minseok and Baekhyun. Chanyeol carried on watching me, smirking slightly, as he sat down opposite me. I bit my lip, shyly turning my head away from him.

The waiters brought us all drinks and everyone began talking and laughing with each other. Sehun was being his usual innocent, naive self and Minseok was playing up to this as he spoke in constant sexual innuendo. As this was going on, Baekhyun was shuffling incredibly close to me and kept trying to put his arm behind me but every time he did, I would bend forwards to pick up my drink or reach for my bag. At one point, Baekhyun put his head on my shoulder. He was really going for it this evening and I felt so guilty that I wasn't returning the affections. I was, however, returning the constant looks that Chanyeol was giving me. I couldn't take my eyes from him: his soft skin, his plump lips and the way his dimple popped every time he smiled. He was having a conversation with Sehun and Jongin but he didn't look away from me. I felt drunk from the alcohol and his attentions. 

All of a sudden, Chae clicked her fingers in my face, causing me to jump. She pushed in front of Baekhyun and frowned at me, mouthing 'toilets'. We got up and clambered over the boys and escaped to the toilets. 

"What are you doing?!" she asked me abruptly as she began re-applying makeup in the mirror. 

"I'm not sure what you mean," I replied smiling and trying to play it dumb. I knew exactly what she was implying. 

"You can't keep your eyes off Chanyeol! What's going on?!"

I began to blush and it was written all over my face.

"Oh my GOD. Don't tell me... but... Baekhyun?!"

"He keeps flirting with me but.."

"But you're into Chanyeol! I KNEW IT!!" Chae drunkenly squealed as she grabbed me and jumped up and down. 

"Shhhh. Don't say anything. I don't want to hurt Baekhyun's feelings. Anyway. Chanyeol and I work together. Nothing can happen," I tried to protest. 

"Oh _do_ shut up about that. Who cares if you work together? As long as it doesn't affect your work, then what's the big deal?"

I suppose Chae did have a point. We finished up, went back to the table and carried on drinking with the boys. I tried my hardest to not flirt with Chanyeol but he made it very difficult. Especially when he stood up and stretched, making his t-shirt lift up to reveal his toned abs. After a while, Junmyeon came and sat in-between Minseok and I as he could see Minseok was getting a bit too friendly with me. I found it quite funny as he stroked my arm and tried to whisper in my ear. Baekhyun kept pushing him off and pulling me in close to him. As we were all drinking, I didn't think too much of it.

"KIM MINSEOK. If you don't stop, I'm taking you home!" laughed Junmyeon.

"SU-HO. SUUUU-HO. You... you can NOT tell me what to DO you're not my MOM!" shouted Minseok loudly. Baekhyun reached over me and shoved his hands on Minseok's mouth to quieten him.

"SHHHHH! He is your mom. He is all of our moms. Listen to mom," Baekhyun laughed.

"Are you my mom too?" I drunkenly asked Junmyeon.

"No, he isn't but I can be your Daddy...." Minseok interrupted as he leant over Junmyeon and tried to pull me onto his lap, eyes deadly serious.

"BAOZI, NO! She's mine," Baekhyun hiccuped as he clumsily embraced me and buried his head in my neck. I could feel his hot breath tickling my neck and causing it to prickle. Even though I was slightly drunk, I still had my inhibitions and I knew Chanyeol was probably there, watching the situation unfold .

I was right: Park Chanyeol was sat staring at Baekhyun burying his face in my neck. The expression on his face read that he was not impressed. I locked eyes with him and instantly felt awful. He knocked back his drink and said something to Sehun before disappearing off. Sehun looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

"Baekhyun, be careful," I said as I prised him from me. "We're colleagues. We need to remain professional."

"Oh fuck being professional," Baekhyun slurred as he put his left arm on my waist, gripping tightly.

"No, I can't, I'm sorry." I pushed myself away from him and clambered over Junmyeon and Minseok. Clumsily, I fought my way out of the booth and into the main bar, where I frantically searched for Chanyeol. I spotted him, leaning against the bar as he sipped a whiskey. Smoothing down my hair, I tried to maintain my composure as I approached him.

"Chanyeol?" I asked timidly.

The ice in the glass tinkled as he took a deep swig of his drink.

"Finished with Baekhyun, have you?" he slurred. 

I rolled my eyes at him. _Here we go, The Idiot has entered the chat._

"Oh not this again," I sighed as I rested my wrists on the bar, standing close to him. 

He paused and finished the rest of his drink. 

"You just don't get it, do you?" he said as he stood up. He was tall and he subsequently towered over me. I looked up at him, straight into his hypnotic eyes. I didn't say anything to him because I was lost for words: he was making me lose all sense of language. 

"Come on," Chanyeol smiled as he gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me in his direction. "Let's get out of here. I've got something to show you."

Without even looking back, we disappeared from the bar. I didn't even think about the consequences of leaving with Chanyeol: I just hoped that Chae would cover for me when Baekhyun had asked where we had gone. 


	14. Chapter 14

He was still holding my wrist as he led me through the back of the bar and through the kitchen. The staff didn't even bat an eyelid to us diverting through: they must have been used to this sort of thing happening frequently. We emerged into the cool evening air and I noticed the stars were twinkling like diamonds in velvet night sky.

"Come on, it's not far," Chanyeol said as he let go of my wrist and beckoned for me to follow him. He began to briskly walk in front of me and it was difficult to keep up with him because of his long strides. _Damn his long legs._

Thousands of thoughts slushed around in my head. It felt like a snow globe that had been shaken, ideas floating around like the tiny pieces of blizzard. _Where is he taking me? What is he going to show me? What will everyone think?_

He was leading me away from the bars and to the park that was nestled on the edge of the river. The lights of the skyscrapers and buildings were reflected in the mirror of the water and the park had many golden string lights hanging from lamppost to lamppost: it looked magical. Chanyeol walked near a group of trees and bent down to go under them, passing through a cluster of shrubs which formed a sort of tunnel of greenery. At the end of this tunnel was an opening, around ten feet wide, which over looked the panorama of the city. It was incredibly beautiful and concealed, keeping us away from prying eyes.

"This!" Chanyeol said as he opened his arms and looked up into the sky, smiling. "Isn't it peaceful?"

"It's wonderful," I replied. "How did you find it?"

"Junmyeon showed it to me. He used to live in one of the apartments over there," he said as he pointed to one of the posh looking buildings on the edge of the park.

"Oh wow, they're expensive. Imagine living somewhere that overlooks this: living the life of luxury."

"I don't need luxury. I just want to be happy," Chanyeol replied as he brushed his hands through his undercut.

I burst out with drunken laughter.

"Oh my god, are you having a laugh?! Look at that Rolex on your wrist, Chanyeol. It's got to be worth more than my yearly salary! And your big Mercedes Idiot Mobile G Wagon. Pffft. You don't need luxury my ass.."

A smile curled at his lips as he walked closer to me. Our bodies were practically touching and I tilted my head up to look at him properly.

"This is not happiness," he said as he jangled the watch in front of my face. I could smell his cologne on his wrists and it sent a shock of delight through my veins.

"If you don't want it, I'll gladly have it and sell it on. That'd pay my rent for a few years..." I replied as I went to grab it.

He rolled his eyes at me, turning away for a second before looking back. He gently put his hands on my shoulders and carefully squeezed.

"Why can't you just relax? You're always so uptight. Calm down. I'm trying to be serious and you're making jokes."

I carried on looking at him, not knowing what to say as I was too busy getting lost in his eyes. I didn't flinch at him touching me so intimately. His fingers began to creep from my shoulders up to my neck and he started playing with my hair, rubbing the nape of my neck with his delicate fingers. Automatically I could feel my lips being pulled to his like magnets drawn together. I closed my eyes ready to kiss him, anticipating his soft touch when our lips met.

"Do you like me?" he asked abruptly.

I paused for a second to try and collect my thoughts but it didn't work. The words left my mouth before I could even consider what to say.

"I like you."

A smile drew across his lips.

"Do you like me like I like you?" he asked again.

I nodded my head and without warning, he kissed me. His lips were sweet and warm, his kisses soft and sensual. Chanyeol's left arm stayed around my neck but his right arm began to wander, resting in the small of my back. He pulled me in closer to him and I reacted by moving my arms across his, almost clawing at his strong biceps. I didn't want the moment to end as it felt magical. A giant cliche but it was perfect kissing him in front of the city scape.

Chanyeol pulled away and nervously looked at the floor as he tucked some hair behind his ear.

"I've wanted to do that ever since that day you woke up in my bed. You left so I couldn't. Then you were a massive, annoying pain in the butt to me so..."

I smiled and blushed. The tension was broken as he brought up that incident.

"You're the one who was being the annoying pain. When you stormed off after movie night and when you sulked in the studio because I didn't get you any lunch. You're just a big baby," I prodded him in the arm.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him again. Although he was strong, he was gentle and didn't hurt me. He held me close and I rested my head on his chest; his steady breathing was calming. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around me and began talking.

"That cluster of stars there is Pegasus. You can see it because it makes a square shape. It is made up of four bright stars. Four for 'Loey', four for 'love' and four for 'Baby'..."

I pulled away from him as I was completely taken back by what he had just said. It was ridiculously romantic but I was embarrassed by it so I tried to laugh it off with humour. 

"Oh my god, Chanyeol, you didn't just say that. That's so cheesy!"

He looked a bit disappointed that I had brushed off his romantic remark.

"Besides, I'm not a baby, I don't know why Chae calls me that."

"You can be my baby if you want?" he asked as he brought my chin up to him with his thumb and index finger. Chanyeol kissed me again but this time it was harder and with more meaning. He was being serious about what he said. After the kiss had finished, I moved back and took a deep breath.

"You're saying all of these things to me but we barely know each other."

"Let's get to know each other then..." he replied, pushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"We have to take this slowly.Wae and QM cannot know about this. I would lose my job," I said as I began running my hands up his toned arms. He kissed the top of my head.

"They won't find out. We can keep this under wraps until recording finishes. Then they won't have any professional interest in us."

"How? You make it very difficult to be professional when you're staring at me all of the time," I replied as I looked up at him.

"We'll just have to be secretive," he replied as he smirked.

"Secretive? Yeah, like _that_ 's going to work."

"See, you're being uptight again. Calm down. It will work, I promise."

Chanyeol held me close to him and we embraced. He started to rub my back and I slipped my left hand into the back pocket of his jeans. He put his arm around me and turned me round so we were both looking up into the night sky.

"You see, that constellation at the top there?"

I lifted my head up to see.

"That's one of the rarest ones. It is called Ophiuchus. Its stars aren't as bright as the others, they are relatively hidden in the dark sky but they're there. When the summer skies are just right, it beams brightly and beautifully."

I was in awe at The Idiot's celestial knowledge. There were clearly lots I didn't know about Park Chanyeol. He carried on talking.

"So we can be like Ophiuchus: hidden but still there, sparkling in the shadows. No one needs to know. It can be our secret."

As he said that, he pulled me close so that I was nestled into his side underneath his left arm. Bringing his right arm around my waist, he kissed my cheek and sighed.

"Well...I say it can be _our_ secret but Junmyeon knows..."

I squinted my eyes at him and flashed him a knowing look.

"And... Sehun knows," he carried on.

"I think Jongin knows too... and Chae..." I added.

Chanyeol took his right hand and face palmed.

"They won't say anything, I trust them with my life. Do you trust Chae?"

"I think so," I replied nervously. I didn't see any reason to doubt Chae.

"Let's take this slowly then. We don't have to do anything... you know like... before."

There was an awkward pause as he had brought up the time we had previously shared together.

"Although I wouldn't mind repeating that," he snickered and kissed the top of my head. I shot him a glare.

"From today,can we start again. No mention of that night?" I asked him.

"What night?!" he joked as he held me tightly. I laughed at him and he drew me in closer, embracing me in the moonlight. It was the start of something special.


	15. Chapter 15

The previous evening was magical. Chanyeol and I had spent hours sitting down on the grass, in the park gazing at the stars. He made his feelings for me very clear. Yes, we were both probably quite drunk at this point in the evening but I knew that he was being serious when he said he wanted to see me again but not as colleagues. We agreed that we would start off slowly, especially because we didn't want anyone to notice what was going on. I was very clear that I didn't want anyone to know about us; especially Wae and QM.

Chanyeol muttered something about Tan and SM not finding out either. I didn't pry as I was glad he didn't want anyone knowing as well. Well... apart from Junmyeon, Sehun and Jongin.

At around 3am, Chanyeol suggested that we go home. It felt like we had been stargazing and talking for five minutes but it was more like five hours. Being with him was so fun. Unlike the first time that we, ahem, _spent time_ together, he insisted that we sleep at our own apartments.

I was a bit disappointed because he was like a drug; I found myself wanting to spend every waking moment in his company. Nevertheless, he called an Kakaotaxi to take us back home.

He insisted on dropping me off at my apartment first and as I went to get out of the cab, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him so we could share one final kiss.

"Mmm, that is nice," I whispered in between kisses as his hands were in my hair.

"I will see you tomorrow," he replied, his lips still on mine as he smiled playfully. I pulled away slightly.

"Tomorrow? You're not down to be in the studio?"

"Well it's nearly 4am... so technically I will see you tomorrow!"

I put my head in my hands as I laughed at my stupidness and climbed out of the cab. Fumbling for my keys, I watched him leave as he blew me a kiss from the back of the car.

When I arrived home to my apartment, I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep whilst grinning to myself. _Ohhhh, Park Chanyeol!_

_* * *_

My head was pounding as I woke up to the sound of the door slamming, keys smashing to the floor and Chae wailing. _Urgh, what has happened..._

"Chae?" I croaked as I hauled myself out of my bed and into the living room area. She was collapsed into a heap on the floor, still wearing her pyjamas. She was hugging her knees and sobbing erratically.

"What's happened? Are you hurt? Why are you in your PJs?"

Chae looked up at me and her mascara was running in streaks down her face, eyes bright red from tears.

"CEO Lee... and Manager... Tan," she began as her breath hitched through her sobs, "... they banned... they banned me from... from Jongi-".

"Eh? They've banned you? From seeing Jongin?" I bent down on the floor and scooped her up to comfort her.

"They caught us...Manager Tan... he came and found me in... in the kitchen!"

"But surely you could have just pretended you were his cousin visiting? Chae please tell me you lied."

"No... we were alone so.. Jon- HE WAS KISSING ME!!!" she broke into more uncontrollable tears.

I suddenly and selfishly thought about Chanyeol. This would be awful if we were caught and banned from seeing each other even before we had started properly dating. How could management be so harsh? Chae and Jongin were clearly happy dating; why couldn't SM see this?

"Antis!" Chae wailed. "Antis will boycott the group and refuse to support them. Manager Tan said it was in the interest of EXO."

"Oh Chae, I'm sorry. There must be a round away this?"

"There isn't!" she moaned whilst she began to cough from sobbing so hard.

There must be away.

"Come on, let's get you up and into a hot bath to calm down. I will make you some tea. What would you like?"

She looked up at me with red, stinging eyes.

"Fetch takeout. Burgers. Pizza. The whole fucking lot," she sniffed as she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. _I should rename myself_ _UberEats for fetching food for Chae and EXO..._

"Of course," I said disguising the fact that my head was banging, I'd had little sleep and I was hungover. "Let me get dressed and I'll pick something up. First though, you need a warm bath."

I helped her up and ran her a bath as she dragged her sleepover bag into her room. I noticed she had got one of Jongin's shirts scrumpled up in there and I felt so upset for her. I just wanted to be with Chanyeol: thousands of ugly thoughts about never being able to kiss his soft lips or hold onto his thick muscly arms flooded into my brain and made me feel sick.

Chae went into the bathroom and I unashamedly rummaged in her bag, taking out her phone and scrolling through until I found the contact 'COTTONTAIL BUNNY' in her address book. Junmyeon had given her his number in case she couldn't get hold of Jongin. Junmyeon was so kind and thoughtful. I hastily stored the number in my phone and sent a series of messages:

_ME: Good morning JM, it's ME. Please could you share Chanyeol's number? I am working from home but I need to check his vocal pattern. I hope you don't mind but C gave me your number. Take care x_

_COTTONTAIL BUNNY: Annyeong! I hope C is ok. I heard BigBossMan got involved. Nini feeling down. PCY details coming up. Have a pleasant day x_ 🐰 _x_

_COTTONTAIL BUNNY: Contact Details: Park Chanyeol #2_

I stored his number on my phone: CHANYEOL WORK. Surely if anyone saw the text, they would think it was work related so no problems there.

_ME: Hi x_

_CHANYEOL WORK: huh? who is this?_ 🤔

_ME: Orfecius x_

I waited about ten minutes for his reply. Whilst I nervously waited, worried incase he had changed his mind about me, I chucked on some casual clothes and put make up on, making sure that I looked semi-human.

 _CHANYEOL WORK:_ ⭐️ _good morning_ ❤️ _but you spelt it wrong..._ 😂😘

_ME: I need to see you for WORK reasons. Vocal tracking. Please meet me in 15 minutes outside PizzaWorld x_

_CHANYEOL WORK: you need to see me that bad huh_ 😉

_ME: Emergency situation. Please? x_

_CHANYEOL WORK:_ 😕

 _CHANYEOL WORK: i am too hungover why don't I come to yours instead???_ ❤️✨

_ME: Be there in 15??? x_

As I grabbed my car keys, I shouted goodbye to Chae and raced towards the Pizza shop. Upon arrival, I parked in the lot and kept checking my mirrors to see if his idiot mobile had pulled up. When it did, he flashed his lights at me.

_ME: I can't risk getting in your idiot mobile. Get in x_

_CHANYEOL WORK: i didn't think u liked taking control if i recall..._ 😉⭐️

I watched as he fussed around for a black mask and shoved it on his face, pulling his trademark beanie low down onto his forehead. He scurried over to my car and got into the passenger seat. As he climbed in, his delicious scent flooded my nostrils almost sending me dizzy. I really wanted to kiss him but it was not appropriate considering the circumstances.

"What's the emergency?" he softly spoke through his mask. He placed his hand affectionately on my thigh but I pulled my leg away from him.

"CEO Lee and Manager Tan have banned a Chae from seeing Jongin."

His eyebrows frowned and he looked confused.

"How?"

"Manager Tan came in to the apartment when everyone was out drinking at the bar. He saw them together."

"Aiiiish," he muttered as he bent down and put his head between his legs. "Poor Nini."

"I know right. But we will find a way to help them through this." I paused and looked out of the window. "More to the point, what if Tan finds out about us?"

"He won't," Chanyeol abruptly said as he took his beanie off and ran his hands through his hair in his usual Loey way.

"We can't guarantee that though, can we?"

"No. But... but we will make it work." He sighed and stared out into the distance.

"Any suggestions then....?" I said as I looked at him with a blank expression. He turned and faced me: I could tell he was being serious as he shot me a frown.

"I can say you're teaching me sound editing or something? We can meet at your apartment... steal moments in the studio. We won't go out in public, we'll keep this between us."

I looked at him and pouted.

"Oh great, so basically strangers that happen to be in the same place at the same time? What a relationship..."

"I never said this was a relationship," he interrupted as he turned and flashed one of his idiot smiles at me, raising his right eyebrow suggestively. I blushed as I realised what I had said. There was silence as I internally wished the ground would swallow me up and relieve me of this embarrassment.

"Come here, you silly thing," Chanyeol whispered as he leant forwards and kissed me. Instantly, waves of euphoria washed over me as I felt myself melt in response to his touch.

"Promise me you won't let Manager Tan tear us apart?" I asked him.

"I promise. You're my star."

He paused.

"Now. We need to help Jongin and Chae..."

"You can start by helping me order all this fast food,' I retorted as I found his hand and squeezed it affectionately.


	16. Chapter 16

Manager Tan did not have a happy look on his face as he gathered EXO in the board room of the SME building. He was pacing up and down the carpeted floor, hands in his trouser pockets as he began to speak.

"I can't believe I have had to call this emergency meeting. You were all really drunk and you've embarrassed yourselves. Not only were you causing a scene in the bar, you've gone and tangled yourselves up in _situations..."_

Jongin knew exactly what Manager Tan was getting at.

"This is the last week of recording, so you need to be on your best behaviour. May I remind you that your only interest should be in EXO and not _girls."_ Manager Tan shot a look at Jongin which cause him to swallow nervously.

Chanyeol tried to keep a serious face. He knew there would be trouble if Manager Tan found out that he was messing around with one the recording staff. It was one thing having a girlfriend but having a girlfriend who worked on an EXO project? Manager Tan would be really angry if he found out.

After the meeting had finished, two cars were waiting in the underground parking lot ready to take the boys to their recording session. Fans were waiting to the entrance to the parking lot as they had heard EXO were making an appearance at the SM building. The rest of the boys were smiling and waving to their loyal fans but Jongin was not in the mood. He felt broken that he wouldn't be able to see Chae.

Chae also felt broken. She had spent the whole day in bed and rang in sick to work. I hadn't heard anything from Chanyeol but I knew he was coming in with the boys to record later in the afternoon. It wasn't going to be a long day but the time seemed to drag because I impatiently wanted to see him. My stomach filled with butterflies as I thought of his deep dark eyes and pouty lips. Kissing him was the best thing. I couldn't believe how hard and fast I was falling for _The Idiot._

When I finally heard voices trail into the office, I had to try my hardest to keep a poker face. It was very difficult because when I saw him, my face lit up; I couldn't help it. We locked eyes and I instantly knew what he was thinking.

_His left hands on my waist, pulling me in closer towards him. His right arm around my neck, fingers ghosting my collarbone as our bodies clashed, his hard cock pressing against me. Oh Chanyeol..._

"Are you listening?" said QM, his head poking out from the studio door. He had been watching me staring at Chanyeol. Luckily, Chanyeol had the foresight to busy himself with Junmyeon so that it didn't look suspect.

"Oh right, yes, sure I can do it right now," I replied to my boss not sure what he had even asked of me.

"Do what? I didn't ask you to _do_ anything. I asked if you knew which channel Xiumin's tracks were saved on."

_Oh shit._

"Sorry. I mean, yes, they're saved on the third section of the eighth tape. I'll fetch the tape for you. It's in the storeroom."

He looked at me and crumpled his face suspiciously.

"I don't know what's wrong with you but snap out of it."

 _"Yeah_ ," came the smooth voice of Sehun, "snap out of it...". He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Chanyeol hit him in the stomach.

"Don't get involved, hyung," Chanyeol hissed at Sehun.

 _"_ Oh and whilst you are down there, fetch some more reels please!" QM called, disappearing into the studio.

The room was quiet. Sehun, Junmyeon, Jongin and Jongdae all stared at me as I quietly moved from my desk and walked past them. I didn't look at Chanyeol.

"I'm going to the stock cupboard," I announced, "don't touch anything."

"Don't _touch_ ," Sehun repeated as he elbowed Chanyeol. He was really becoming a sassy little shit.

I pushed open the door and descended the stairs, running my hand lightly down the hand rail as I hummed to myself.

The storeroom was cold and dark so I pulled out my phone to turn my torch on for light. Even though I had left the door open, it was still dark in the room. Using my free hand, I flicked through the various tapes and reels that were standing like soldiers on the shelves. I began talking to myself as I tried to find what I was looking for. All of a sudden, I felt arms around my waist and his deep breaths tickling my skin as his lips began ghosting my neck.

"Shit, Chanyeol, what are you doing?!" I lamely protested.

"Shhh, I missed you."

He carried on kissing my neck, hands moving up and down my body, reaching dangerously close to the top of my jeans. He began fumbling with the buttons.

"Boy, if you don't stop I'm..."

" _What_ are you going to do to me?!" his laugh was deep in his throat. I could tell he was trying to be playful.

"If we get caught, you'll be in big trouble."

"Please. Just kiss me," he said.

I couldn't resist him. Not seeing him for a whole day hurt my heart and his lips were the only medicine I needed to heal. I turned around to face him, smiling as he brought his forehead to mine, using both of his hands to cup my face as he peppered scrumptious kisses on my lips. He tasted sweet and as usual, I was overcome by his sensation. My knees began to buckle at the intensity of his presence but he reacted quickly and held me close to him.

"God I have missed you," he whispered into my ear. "Please come out with me tonight. We can go somewhere quiet. I don't care where. I just want to spend time with you."

"What will you say to Tan? What will you tell the boys?"

"Tan doesn't control every second of our lives. I can just tell him I'm going to visit my sister."

I frowned and pouted my lips at him.

"And the boys?"

"I won't lie to them. I need them to cover for me."

"Even Baekhyun?"

Chanyeol paused for a second and his brows knitted together in thought.

"Shit. I'm going to have to tell him. But not tonight."

"Won't Jongin be angry with you? After all, it is rubbing it in his face that you can see me but he can't see Chae?"

"About that..."

"No. Chae is not coming with us for a double date. No."

He gave me puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. Bring Jongin over when you pick me up. But I'm not hanging out with them. They're all all over each other and it's gross."

"But what if I want to be all over _you_?"

He smirked and I burst out laughing.

"Park Chanyeol STOP!" He made me so happy with his silly, suggestive ways. I thumped him softly in the chest; he reacted by grabbing my wrist and pulling me in for another kiss.

"HELLO? ARE YOU STUCK?"came the voice of Wae as I heard his heavy footsteps approaching down into the storeroom.

" _Shit,"_ I hissed. "Hide, Chanyeol. Now!!" I flapped at him and tried to push him behind a stack of reels on the floor.

"There's no where to hi-," he began until he was interrupted.

"Oh. Chanyeol." Wae looked at Chanyeol and then looked at me. "What are you doing down here?"

Luckily, Chanyeol was as quick witted as he was attractive.

"Using my height to my advantage! I was helping her reach the heavy reels from the top shelf," he replied as he stood on his tiptoes and reached for the tapes. After randomly grabbing a few, he passed them to me.

"Ah, thank you Chanyeol-ssi. You are very kind."

I brushed past them both and ran back up the stairs into the main studio, my face as red as a beetroot. Upon opening the door, I was greeted by the tense faces of Sehun and Junmyeon.

"Are you ok?" Junymeon asked politely and discreetly.

"Yeah. Did Wae _see_ you both?!" Sehun blurted out. He was the complete opposite to Junmyeon and was not being discreet at all. I flashed my eyes at him trying to indicate he needed to be careful in what he was saying.

"Shhh, yes he did but nothing happened."

"You both need to be careful," Junmyeon added as he picked up his phone from his pocket. "You should also think about mentioning something to Baekhyun. I think he is under the impression you like him."

My heart skipped a beat at poor Baekhyun. I had led him on and I that was unfair.

Just then, Chanyeol came through the door with Wae; they had been talking and were both laughing. I thought carefully about how to approach the situation with Baekhyun so he didn't get hurt.

I would tell him tomorrow after his recording session because tonight I wanted to enjoy Chanyeol.


	17. Chapter 17

Chanyeol smiled to himself as he sat in the back of the car. Sehun was next to him, quickly flicking through Korean vogue, folding the corners of the pages that piqued his interest. Jongdae was texting his girlfriend. _If Jongdae could make it work, then so can I._

His phone buzzed.

_Haeun: Hi Chanyeol. I hope you are good. I'm leaving in two weeks and packing up my apartment. I found some of your things. Shall I pass them to Chae?_

Shit.

Chanyeol had failed to mention that Chae was a mutual acquaintance with his ex-girlfriend. That was how Chae met Jongin.

Surely Chae would have mentioned it? Chanyeol didn't see why it would be a problem anyway. It wasn't like he was still in a relationship with Haeun: he was just picking up some things from her apartment.

Nothing was going to happen.

* * *

Chae was walking to take her mid-afternoon break, the wind rattling the windows in the cafeteria. She had been on shift for six hours and didn't have chance to check her phone. She had secretly hoped Jogin had text her: she missed him. After grabbing a sandwich and some coffee, she sat down at an empty table and pulled out her phone from her bag.

_ Unread Messages. _

_HaeHae: Chae, I know we were supposed to be going for lunch after our shifts but I can't. I've arranged to meet Loey. I'll call you when I'm done xoxo_

_HaeHae: What if I regret this? xoxo_

**Ohhhh shit**. Chae hadn't told her flatmate that Chanyeol used to date her work friend, Haeun. Chae didn't feel guilty for not mentioning it. After all, this new relationship with Chanyeol probably wouldn't last: she knew what her flatmate was like with relationships... a disaster. However, Chae didn't like the sound of Haeun's last text message. Regret what, exactly? Was she going to try it on with Chanyeol? Chae wasn't sure what she should do. She would ask Chanyeol about it tonight. After all, she didn't want to rock any boats. Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

_Matthew: Hi Chae. I've been discharged this morning. It's been a crazy time but I was wondering if we could meet up? I've missed you! Can you make next week?_

This one was a shock. Matthew had been doing his mandatory military service and she knew his time was coming to an end but didn't realise it would be this soon. All sorts of feelings swam around in her head. Should she ignore Matthew? Should she tell Jongin? Chae didn't know what to do.

* * *

After work, I came home and made myself a strong coffee. I was really looking forwards seeing Chanyeol later on without the pressure of having to resit him at work. As I was sitting on the couch, flicking through the dramas on the television, Chae came through the door looking like she had seen a ghost.

"Fucking hell," she said as she threw herself down onto the sofa. I cocked an eyebrow at her.

Chae took a deep breath. "Matthew text me. His enlistment finished and he wants to meet me next week. Just as friends."

I sighed. Not this again. Matthew was her ex-boyfriend who had ended things with her because of his enlistment. She was heartbroken over him and I didn't think he was a good influence. Meeting up with him would only cause problems.

"It is _not_ a good idea, Chae."

"It is," she replied, bluntly.

"Are you going to tell Jongin?" I asked, sipping my coffee and giving her a disapproving look.

"Maybe..."

"You'd better tell him. It wouldn't be fair for you to leave him in the dark about this."

"Don't mention anything tonight, please?! I will tell him in my own time."

It was interesting that Chae had decided to see Matthew without even taking time to consider the implications but it wasn't my place to judge her actions. All I knew was that I was looking forwards to seeing Chanyeol later that night.

* * *

It was past 7pm and I hadn't heard anything from Chanyeol. I wondered if he had been held up with his schedule but something inside my head told me that this wasn't the case. My phone, which had fallen down the gap in the couch, buzzed and I madly grabbed it to check if it was from Chanyeol.

_eBAY ALERT! 1 WATCHED ITEM ENDS IN 30MINUTES._

Oh for heaven's sake? Where was Chanyeol?   
My heart sank down into the bottom of my stomach as I felt really disappointed. Scrunching my face up as the bright screen shone into my eyes, I threw it across the room and shouted.

"Chae!"

She appeared behind the door, looking sheepish.

"Where are they?"

Slowly, she crept over and sat on the arm of the couch avoiding making eye contact with me.

"I don't know."

 _Hmmmm._ I could tell she was holding something back.

"You need to tell me if you know something," I said with a punch in my voice.

She hesitated and began tracing the outline of the pattern on her jeans before beginning to speak.

"There's something I didn't tell you..."

_Oh boy... of course there is._

"So. There's this girl I work with. Her name is Haeun... she introduced me to Jongin."

I glanced at her through side-eyes. I could see where this was going and I tried to compose myself.

"She was dating Chanyeol at the time and they split up a few weeks ago because she is moving to San Francisco."

 _Shit._ I remember either Baekhyun or Kyungsoo telling me that Chanyeol was seeing someone. I felt so guilty: he was clearly in a relationship when things began heating up between us. _Was I was the bad guy in this situation...?_

"Haeun text me this afternoon as Chanyeol was coming over to collect some of his things from her place. So that's why he's not here."

Tears were building up behind my eyes and I began digging my fingernails into my palm to stop them from bursting through like a river after a storm. _Fucking Chanyeol. Why didn't he just say and be honest?_

Sitting there, silently and stunned, I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn't let Chae know this was upsetting me.

"Oh.... oh right," I began. "Fair enough."

As well as being annoyed with Chanyeol, I was pissed off with Chae. She _knew_ about Chanyeol and Haeun but didn't think of saying anything?

"Why didn't you tell me?" My words shot towards Chae with a hint of aggression.

"You weren't dating him at the time they were together. So why would I? She was his past."

"Well it would have been nice to let me know you worked with his ex girlfriend. Just for some sort of context?"

Chae began to get frustrated with me and stood up from the couch.

"Look; she split with him because she is moving halfway across the world. Why would she be of any concern of yours?"

"BECAUSE SHE IS CLEARLY A CONCERN OF HIS IF HE HAS GONE TO SEE HER," I raised my voice, despair flying carelessly out of my mouth. "She could have given you the stuff or posted it. There's clearly some unsaid things if she is inviting him to her home and he isn't telling me. It's a fucking joke. I knew he was trouble when I first saw him."

"Don't get angry, you never know what's happened. It could be innocent."

"It doesn't matter if it's innocent or not. The point is he has visited his ex girlfriend without mentioning it. It's like he has hidden it. I can't stand people who hide things."

Chae rolled her eyes at me.

"Oh, so not like how you hid that fact you were seeing Chanyeol behind Baekhyun's back? Or the fact that you met up with Yoongi a few nights back and failed to mention _that_ to anyone..."

I bolted upright and got into Chae's face. How dare she mention Yoongi.

"Yoongi has been through a lot with his depression and I was being a friend. Nothing romantic ever happened between us; he is a friend Chae and that's what friends do."

"You're just being hypocritical now. So you can meet up with Yoongi, someone you have had sex with on _multiple_ occasions yet you're criticising Chanyeol for doing the same?! You're just as bad as each other."

Chae was right. Chanyeol and I were just as bad as each other. This would never work. I knew we would never work and I was heartbroken that I knew this from the start her was still dumb enough to peruse a relationship with _the idiot._

"I know," I began as the tears flooded down my face. "I know...."

I collapsed into Chae's arms and she held me tight. Chae understood how desperate this stupid situation was.

"Jongin won't come without Chanyeol so I'm pissed off at both of them. Jongin could sneak out if I meant that much to him. Maybe we need to have a break from these boys."

As painful as it was, I agreed with her. Although a sharp pain radiated through my chest as I realised I would have to see them for another two days whilst the recording was finalised. I couldn't get them out of my life just yet.

Did I want to get them out of my life? I was so conflicted. Chanyeol had me hypnotised and I had fallen so hard for him _but_ Chae was right, we were as bad as each other. Maybe it was kinder for me to leave him alone to enjoy his idol career. He didn't need a girlfriend holding him back. And if he did, he could have stupid Haeun.

All night I lay awake, staring into the sky, hoping to see our four stars but the sky was black. Miserable grey storm clouds dragged themselves heavily across the cosmos. Tears coasted down my cheeks with each blink.

 _"I need you, Chanyeol,"_ I whispered to the silver moon. _"You're so bad but so good..."_


	18. Chapter 18

As I had imagined, going into work was not exactly pleasant. Keeping my composure around EXO was incredibly difficult.

Chanyeol knew there was something wrong. He had called me in the morning and left me a voice message.

_"Good morning beautiful; it's Chanyeol. I am sorry for letting you down last night. I had to pick something up for my schedule. Errrrm...Can I make it up to you? Let's go to Wolmido Island and make sandcastles._ _There's an arcade there too so it would be super fun...._ _I am really sorry, please... don't be angry. Looking forwards to seeing you later? Ok.... I don't know what else to say so...bye starshine."_

The cheek of him to say it was for his schedule. _Like fuck it was._

Despite needing to remain professional, I simply couldn't. Thundering around the room with a glum look on my face caused people to notice that I was in a foul mood.

"Are you ok?" Baekhyun asked softly as he was sucking on a lollipop. I couldn't look him in the eyes knowing that he didn't know the truth. I had betrayed him and it felt bad.

Jongin also tried to jump in but I wasn't in the mood for him either. Every time Chanyeol tried to make a face at me I turned away: he knew I was upset with him.

When Wae called him over, he flung himself off the couch and stomped over to the studio like a petulant child, sulking as he pulled his beanie over his eyes. I busied myself on my MacBook. He wasn't going to get a reaction out of me.

"Can you come and show me the way to the bathroom please?" came an unusually soft voice.

Sehun.

"Down the hall. On the left," I bluntly replied knowing full well that he didn't need to pee; Chanyeol had told him to speak to me. I wasn't falling for it.

"What a shame I don't know my left from my right," he shrugged with a growing grin on his face.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"This way," I said as I pushed chair from my desk and sighed.

Sehun had to move quickly to keep up with me as I passed through the doors like a tropical storm, slamming the doors and kicking the bin out of the way with the side of my foot. I finally stopped outside of the men's toilet.

"There," I spat as I gestured to the door.

Sehun ran his hands through his hair and put his hand in his long coat.

"What has he done to deserve this attitude?" he bluntly asked.

Rolling my eyes, I nearly spat at Sehun.

"Don't play dumb, Oh Sehun, you know what he's done."

Sehun chewed his lip as if he was thinking carefully about something.

"Haeun."

I nodded, partly to indicate he was correct and partly to shake the crystal tears that were welling up inside of my eyes.

"He went to pick up stuff from there. She's moving to San Francisco. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?! He lied. That's the big deal. He said it was part of his schedule. Why didn't he tell me the truth? Why did he have to lie to me Sehun? What else is he hiding?"

My knees buckled from under me, tears of despair tumbling down my flushed cheeks. Sehun caught me and brought me into his arms and cuddled me tightly.

"I wish I knew what to say but I don't. I told him he should tell you. It's just he is an insec- oh..."

"Sehun! Why are you holding her????" came the confused voice of Baekhyun as he stood open-mouthed. It looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

"This isn't what it looks like," Sehun said as he continued to hold me. "She's ups..."

"Yeah RIGHT," Baekhyun spat. "I was worried about Chanyeol getting close to her but it looks like you were the dark horse and one to watch. Aish, I didn't think you'd be so heartless, Sehun."

"Woah, woah, calm down Baek," Sehun said as he gently let go of me and glided towards Baekhyun.

"I promise, Sehun hasn't done anything," I tried to add in between soft sobs.

Baekhyun looked at me and shook his head.

"How could you? I thought we had something?"

My eyes widened in disbelief and guilt as a pained expression clouded over his face. He turned around and powered back down the hall into the studio. Sehun and I looked at each other and knew what was about to erupt.

"She's been seeing Sehun behind my back," Baekhyun shouted as he pushed the door open with almighty force. It banged furiously against the wall causing everyone to look up, startled.

Junmyeon leapt up as he could see what was about to unfold.

"Hey Baekhyun, let's sit down and talk this out ok?"

"No, Suho, I'm not talking it out. I'm pissed off. Sehun is a fucking snake."

Wae, MQ and Tan began to filter out the studio as they heard raised voices.

"Calm down, Baekhyun, nothing is going on!" Sehun protested as he bent down next to Baekhyun, who had been pulled to the couch by Junmyeon.

"What on earth is all of the shouting for?!" Tan demanded as he surveyed the scene before him. Chanyeol came out with his headphones still on. He hadn't heard the commotion.

"Nothing. Baekhyun is just a bit confused with a game we were playing," Junmyeon tried to explain, desperately covering for everyone involved.

"No that's not true. Sehun is seeing HER," he pointed at me.

Everyone went silent and looked at me for an answer.

"Well...?" MQ questioned, his eyes brows furrowed into a deep look of disdain.

_What do I say? Do I tell the truth? Do I drop Chanyeol in the shit? Do I lie to protect Baekhyun?_

"That's not true," I replied as I took a deep breath. I prepared myself for my answer: the only one that would stop any fighting between the boys.

"Sehun was being a kind friend. You see, I have had some sad news; I need to leave town for a few weeks."

I swallowed the hard lump that had formed in my throat as I lied. A look of pure fear washed over Chanyeol's face. Even Junymeon looked confused.

"What?" Chanyeol said as he scratched his head. "You're leaving?"

I didn't want to expand on this. It was the only way I could think of keeping my job without having to see EXO. I hated that I was causing a rift between them all; it was _not_ what I wanted.

"What?" Chanyeol said in his deep voice. "How long for?"

"Gosh I'm sorry to hear that," Wae spike as he offered condolences.

"No. Surely there is a way around it?" Chanyeol asked with wide eyes. This was clearly making him anxious.

"Not possible. I have to leave. I don't know when I will be back." I hated lying to them all but it was for their own good.

"I'm coming with you then," he bluntly said as he removed the headphones from his neck and dropped them on the floor. Chanyeol began walking towards me and I could see the determination in his face. Standing as stiff as a board, I shifted my gaze to Sehun indicating that he needed to do something quickly.

Before Sehun could even move to grab his hyung, Chanyeol took my face in his hands and wiped off a tear with his thumb.

"I said I would be there for you and nothing changes that."

I pulled away from him as I knew this would not work out well in front of the managers.

"Chanyeol, stop playing around I don't know what you mean...." I shrugged him off.

He looked at me like a confused puppy begging for treats from an owner who was teasing him.

"Yes you do," he said as he tried to pull me closer.

This was my only chance to stop this drama and heal any fractures between Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

"GET OFF!" I shouted as I pushed him away. My breathing quickened and I could feel my heart slowly flake into ashes as I said it. Hurting Chanyeol was not on my list of things to do but it seemed inevitable.

"Huh?" he said as he grabbed my wrists. "Why are you being like this?"

"Nothing is ever going to happen between us, ok? Between you, between me, between me and Baekhyun, between me and Sehun, between me and Yixing! Just please, I have to go!"

Pulling myself free from Chanyeol's arms, I hurried to my desk and grabbed my essentials before exiting the door and fleeing to my car.

The rain poured heavily and I began to get drenched as I ferreted around my bag for my car keys. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder as he turned me around.

"Chanyeol...?"


End file.
